Four were taken, only three returned
by foggymorning21
Summary: When four people who are very special to the team are taken away from the BAU family, how do they get them back? And when only three return, how do they all deal with the fallout? No smut but lots of pain. I aged Jack to 12.
1. Chapter 1

_**AN: This is my first chapter fic so please bear with me. This is the story from my song dabble based on They Should Have Named You Cocaine by Jerrod Niemann. When four people who are very special to the team are taken away from the BAU family, how do they get them back? And when only three return, how do they all deal with the fallout?**_

It had been a horrendously gruesome case and the team was exhausted. They had finally caught the Unsub at about two in the morning. Between cleaning up the loose ends and paperwork, they were not able to leave the police station until almost nine. When Hotch asked if they wanted to go back to the hotel and get a few hours of sleep, or head back now and sleep on the jet, the answer was unanimous. Hotch called the pilot to get the jet ready and then took his team to get breakfast while they waited. As soon as the Jet was in the air, everyone but Hotch was asleep. He gazed over his coworkers and was grateful for every one of them. They all brought a different perspective to each case and each personality had its own unique place in their family. They had proved time-and-time again that they were there for each other. After losing J.J. and Emily, and then getting them back, Hotch had sworn to himself that he wouldn't let another member of his team go. The dull roar of the engines finally lulled Hotch into sleep as it had the rest of the team.

Hotch awoke to the sound of his phone ringing. A quick glance at his watch showed they had about an hour before they landed, putting them somewhere over Kentucky. Another quick glance let him know everyone else was still asleep. He hurried to pull his phone out and answer it before the ringing changed that.

"Agent Hotchner"

"Hello Aaron, I hope your Saturday has been good so far, because it is about to get really bad."

Hotch didn't recognize the voice, "Who is this?"

"Patience, Aaron, all in good time. I have sent you an email with a link. I will give you five minutes to open it and then the show starts. Do not be late Aaron; you will not like the consequences."

The call was disconnected before Hotch had time to ask any more questions. He jumped out of his seat and grabbed for his laptop. He quickly turned it on and hoped this was just a prank, but he feared that the man was very serious. As he was logging on he noticed that Rossi was awake and looking at him. He filled him in on the phone call as he pulled up his email.

He saw an email from sender: JUSTCALLEDYOU and the title of the email was …THE SHOW. Figuring that was what he was looking for he opened the email, finding nothing but a link, he clicked on it. It brought up a video box. As the video loaded he turned the computer so Rossi could see as he came to sit next to him. When it had loaded, Hotch and Rossi could tell it was a living room in someone's house. As they watched a young boy came running into the room yelling, "They're here, Daddy." The camera only captured the little boy's back and it wasn't until "Daddy" walked into view that Hotch and Rossi realized they knew who it was. It was Will LaMontagne. They watched Will open the front door and saw a smiling Penelope Garcia and Jack Hotchner step into the living room. Hotch already had his pone out and was dialing Garcia. Rossi moved to wake up the rest of the team and had his phone out calling the office to alert them and send someone out. Hotch heard the phone ringing and on the 3rd one she answered, "Hello" …and the video froze.

"Garcia," Hotch said urgently, "Give the phone to Will, NOW!"

"I'm sorry sir, but I can't do that," was Garcia's shaky reply. Hotch put his phone on speaker and said "Why can't you give the phone to Will?" There was a shuffle, what he thought was a groan and then the man that he talked to earlier was back on the phone.

"Because he is a little tied up right now Aaron…actually so is Penelope. Did you really think that video was live? Do you want to know what happened next? Here, I will show you."

With that he hung up on Hotch again and the video resumed playing. Besides J.J.'s gasp when she heard Will was tied up, no one had made a sound. They all watched as Garcia hugged Henry, and tried to get his shoes on.

"How come your shoes aren't already on Love Bug?" Garcia asked the little boy with a smile. "I figured we wouldn't get through the door because you would be running out of it, ready to go."

"I tried," drawled Will with his thick accent. "But he was so excited it took me an hour just to get clothes on him and his hair and teeth brushed. He's been 'supa cited' about the zoo since you called earlier. He's more worried about which animal to see first than if his shoes are on." There was a knock on the door and Will turned to answer it as Penelope finished tying Henry's other shoe. She looked up in time to see an arm holding a Taser connect with Will's chest. His body jerked and he slumped to the floor. Garcia yelped, jumped up, grabbed the boys by the arms and pulled them behind her. She turned to run but something made her not go that way. The camera didn't allow the team to see what caused her to stop.

"Don't come any closer." Penelope told the man coming through the door. He was dressed in black from head-to-toe and wore a ski mask. He laughed as he advanced on Pen and the boys. Jack had managed to turn Henry around and was shielding his eyes when the man reached out and tased Penelope. The team watched helplessly, with every fist clenched, as she bonelessly fell to the ground unconscious. The man looked up from her still form and met Jack's stare.

"Well, Hotch Junior it is nice to finally meet you. Do you want to come quietly or do you want me to tase you and the brat?"

"Don't tase him, he's just a little boy," Jack said as he pulled Henry closer. "We will be quiet. You obviously know who my dad is, so you do know he will find us, right? And it won't be pretty for you when he does," Jack told him defiantly, with his chin up his gaze never wavered from the man.

The man in black threw his head back and laughed. "Chip off the old block, I should have known. And, I am counting on it son, I am ready for your old man."

He reached down and grabbed Penelope under her arms and started dragging her towards the kitchen. "Now be good boys and go right on in there." Jack turned Henry around and led him towards the kitchen. The man in black disappeared with Pen and then came back and grabbed Will's leg and started pulling him out of the room as well. Right before leaving the camera's range he looked up and smiled directly at the lens. He gave a jaunty wave and was gone from sight.


	2. Chapter 2

_**AN: I forgot to say this on the first chapter, but I took a page from the Soap Operas and aged Jack. In my story he is about 12, old enough to be a help and understand what's going on but young enough to still be considered a kid. Sorry if there was any confusion. Hope you enjoy!**_

As the video ended, the team exchanged glances.

"Hotch, what the hell was that?" Derek asked his rage obviously close to the surface. Hotch explained about the phone call he had received to the rest of his team that were still staring at the screen in shock.

"J.J., what's in the kitchen? Back door or Garage?" Hotch asked.

"Garage," J.J. answered quietly. She could not believe she had just seen her husband and young son abducted. "How long ago was this? We don't even know when they were taken."

Hotch replied, "I'm assuming this happened in the past couple of hours because Jack had a game today that Garcia was taking him to. They were at the game because Garcia sent me the score, Jack's team won. That was at two p.m. and it's 5 now."

They were interrupted by Rossi's phone ringing. He quickly answered it. "Hello…yeah…Damn. Ok, process everything with a fine tooth comb. We will be there in less than an hour." He hung up the phone and looked at J.J. and Hotch.

"The door was still wide open and there's no sign of anyone in the house. Also, there's a small amount of blood on the kitchen floor and some broken glass."

"Oh, Shit." J.J. clasped her hand over her mouth and ran for the bathroom. The team could hear the sound of her retching and Hotch nodded to Emily who followed her friend to try and help her. Hotch couldn't let himself think about Jack or the others, he knew if he did he wouldn't be able to focus and Jack was counting on him. His son was trusting him to find them and Hotch wasn't about to let him down.

"We land in 30 minutes. Morgan, you and Dave go to J.J.'s house and see what you can find there. If they haven't already, send the blood out for testing, I want to know who is hurt. Emily, Reid and I will go to the office and start looking from where this threat came from."

"Where do you want me, Hotch?" J.J. asked as she came out of the bathroom. She was pale but steady. "J.J. if you can handle it, I would like you to go with Dave and Morgan. Look around and see if they took anything." She nodded and he continued. "No one goes anywhere alone until we know what and who we are dealing with. Emily, I need you to call Kevin and get him set up in the conference room. Impress upon him the consequences of dragging his feet. I want that email traced and know everything about the sender by the time we get to the office. Dave, will you call Strauss and let her know what we are dealing with? I cannot handle that woman right now."

"I will get right on it," Dave replied as he stepped in the galley to make the call.

"We will find them," Hotch told his friends. "We will bring them home and soon. Let's get ready to get off. We are going to land soon."

As they moved about picking up their things and getting bags together, Derek's phone rang.

"Agent Morgan"

"Hello, Derek. Did you enjoy the show?"

Morgan gestured quickly to everyone else and put his phone on speaker. Emily, who was still on the phone with Lynch, told him to put a trace on Derek's number.

"Not really," Derek replied. "I don't like it when somebody hurts my friends."

The man on the other end chuckled. "Friend? Oh, I think Miss Penelope is more than just your friend. I think she means much more to you."

"Are we gonna argue semantics or are you gonna tell me what the fuck you want?" Derek growled.

"Oh, did I hit a nerve Derek?" the man sneered. "I will tell you the same thing I told Aaron…all in good time. For now I just want you guys to dangle. Would you like to talk to your Baby Girl?"

"Of course I do, put her on the phone." Derek looked over at Emily who shook her head and mouthed, "Prepaid, can't trace". Derek closed his eyes and ran his free hand over his head.

"Well sorry to disappoint you Derek, but Penelope is unavailable to talk right now, but you can speak with the next best thing."

There were shuffling sounds and then Jack's voice came on the line. "Uncle Derek?"

"Yeah, Jack, I'm here." Derek told him. "Are you guys ok?"

"Yes, we're fine; they haven't really hurt any of us."

"That is enough from you Jack." They heard as the man took the phone back. "That should hold you over for a little while." Once again the call was disconnected.

"SHIT!" Derek roared, causing J.J. to jump. "When I find this sorry S.O.B…" He trailed off as Rossi came back in.

Hotch saw the look on his face. "What, Dave?"

"Strauss doesn't want us working the case because we are too close." Before the protests could start he held up his hand and continued. "I told her that there was no was she was going to keep us away, short of locking us all up and she agreed. But, she's going to be with us every step of the way, watching us like a hawk, judging our every move to see if we are losing it. So keep the outbursts like that away from her Derek. What got you all worked up anyway?"

As the plane started to descend, Hotch told Rossi what had happened. The moment the wheels stopped they were prepared to get off the plane and hit the ground running.


	3. Chapter 3

**Somewhere in a basement-**

"Oh, I am never drinking again." Pen mumbled to herself as she started to wake up. She tried to bring her hand up to her head when she realized she wasn't in her bed, and she couldn't bring her hand all the way up. She cracked one eye open and saw that she was in what looked like a basement. She opened both eyes and realized her hands were handcuffed together and attached to a chain around her waist that was connected to huge, solid bolts in the wall behind her. She looked to her left and saw Jack and Henry sitting in the corner between her and Will who was chained in the same fashion. The boys were staring at her with big eyes and were not restrained in any way.

"Jack, Henry, are you guys ok?" Pen asked them. They both nodded. "What happened?" Her head was still fuzzy and she couldn't figure out how they got there.

"A man tased Uncle Will and then you." Jack told her. "We had gone over to their house because you called after my game and asked if they wanted to go to the zoo with us. After the guy had knocked you two out, he gave me the option of coming quietly or getting tased too. I didn't want that to happen to Henry, so I said we'd be good. While they took you into the garage and put you in the car, Will woke up. He jumped on the guy still in the kitchen with us and rammed his face into the wall and I'm pretty sure he broke his nose on a picture hanging on the wall cuz there was blood everywhere. But then the guys putting you in the car came back in behind him and tased him again. They put Will in the car and then put us in. They even had a booster seat for Henry. They had written Disney World or bust on the car's back window. They blindfolded us and then we drove for a really long time. When they brought us in, we were in another garage so I couldn't see if we are near anything else. They brought us down here and chained the two of you up. You were kind of awake when they were chaining you up and the main guy patted your face, not hard, but enough to wake you up. He told you to open your eyes because your phone was gonna ring soon, and it did. You talked to my dad for a minute and then the crazy guy took the phone back and tased you again. Do you not remember that?" By the time the boy finished, he was talking so fast she could barely understand everything he was saying.

Penelope shook her head, no, amazed at all that had happened.

"Then the crazy guy talked to my dad about some video not being live and hung up. He left us down here for a while and came back about fifteen minutes ago. He called Uncle Derek and I talked to him for about two seconds, long enough to say we weren't really hurt. Then the crazy guy went back upstairs, still talking to Derek. "

"Wow, Jack. I hope you intend to be a profiler when you grow up, because you will be awesome at it." Penelope told him. "Your dad will be so proud of you. You really paid attention to everything."

"I wanted us to have something to tell them if we got the chance." Jack told her.

"How many guys are there? What kind of car was it? Were Will and I in the trunk?" Pen had so many questions.

"I only saw three guys but the crazy guy called someone when we were close and told them we were almost here. It was a four door car, dark blue or black and I guess you guys were in the trunk. We only took the one car as far as I know."

"If we can find a way to tell them any of that, I'm sure it will help. Don't put yourself in danger though, just to get them a message Jack, ok?"

"I won't Aunt Pen. I don't know what they want or what they are going to do, but they know us and they know things about the team. When the guy talked to Uncle Derek, he called you Baby Girl."

Penelope flinched at that and tried to reassure the boys. Henry was looking more and more scared and had yet to say a word. "Your dad, Henry's mom, Rossi, Derek, Emily and Reid are the best there are. They will find us and it will be ok. Until they do we need to do what we're told and not cause any trouble. If we don't make them mad, we are less likely to get hurt. And if Will or I tell you guys to do something, do it, no questions asked, ok?" Penelope waited until both boys nodded and then continued.

"They haven't tied or chained you up probably because they don't think you are any threat. Have you looked around down here at all, like in there?"

She pointed at a set of cabinets over by the stairs, which was all that was in the basement.

"They are empty. The only thing in this room is us." Jack told her.

They heard a groan come from Will and saw him try to raise his hands, just like Garcia had. Pen waited for him to open his eyes before she started talking to him gently. When she knew he was truly awake she filled him in on everything Jack had told her. Will also praised Jack on his attention to detail and for keeping his son safe. At this point, Henry was curled up under the chain on Will's waist so that his father's arms were around him. They heard a lock turn on the door at the top of the stairs and watched as the door opened. As the man descended the stairs Penelope found herself wondering why every hot guy she met ended up being bat-shit crazy. He was a very fine specimen to look at but she didn't really want to.

"Ah, so brave Will and beautiful Penelope have decided to rejoin our party? I am so glad; we are going to have so much fun. He leaned down and caressed the side of Penelope's face, causing her to jerk back and Will to strain against his chains yelling, "Don't touch her!"

"My Cajun friend, you cannot do anything about it. I would suggest that you keep calm so your son does not get upset." The crazy hot guy said.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Penelope asked.

"You can call me Bob," crazy hot guy said. "As for what I want? I want the world famous BAU team to be gone. I want them to suffer the way they have caused me to suffer. I want them to break under the pressure and quit the jobs they love so much. I want to know that I beat the best team in law-enforcement out there and they can never ruin another person's life."

"Those are lofty goals," Will drawled softly. "They must have hurt you really bad." He wanted to get Bob to talk more. The more he talked, the less chance of someone getting hurt and the more info they had if the chance came up to pass it on to the people searching for them.

"Yes they did," Bob said. "But enough about me. As long as you do what you are told, you will be fine. I am actually here now for the kids. Come on boys." He held out his hands and waited. When they did not move towards him, he began to get agitated.

"What did I just say? Do what you are told and you will be fine. Do you need a lesson on what happens if you do not listen?"

Bob walked over to Henry and Will. He pulled his foot back to kick Will with his heavy boot. As he swung it forward, Will was pushing Henry off his lap so he wouldn't get kicked. Bob's boot connected with Will's ribs and he felt all the air leave his body with a whoosh. He heard Penelope yell stop and saw Jack jump up.

"All right, we are up and going with you. Please stop." Jack pulled Henry up to stand beside him and waited for Bob. Bob turned to them, smiled and held out his hand again, this time Jack took it. Bob turned back to Pen and Will and said, "I will bring them back to you soon." Then he took the boys and they went up the stairs and out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

It felt like forever since the boys had been gone and Penelope thought she would go crazy if they didn't come back soon.

"Penelope, I know it's hard, but you have to calm down a little. We can't do anything right now but we need to save our strength, we might need it." Will told her softly.

On the verge of hysteria, Penelope looked at him with wide eyes. _"Calm? You want me to be calm? How? How are you calm? Your son is up there! Who knows what they are doing to Henry and Jack? Who knows what they are going to do to us? Actually, I probably do know what they are going to do to us…they are going to kill us. We saw his face; he can't just let us go."_ As much as she tried not to, she couldn't stop the tears from falling down her face.

"Penelope, it's ok. You and I both know that J.J. and Derek and all the others are doing everything they possibly can to find us. And they will find us. We just need to keep our heads on straight and look for opportunities. We need to figure out who this guy is so we can pass it along if the chance presents itself. He has already called the team twice, and it sounds like just to taunt them. He will trip up; his head is too clouded with emotion not to. That's why we can't let that happen to us. I'm terrified of what could be happening to Henry and Jack, but it won't do me any good to panic. I can't do anything to help him right now but stay calm and plan."

"You're right," Penelope sniffled. "If we get to talk to the team, what things should we tell them? What's the most important?"

"We tell them there are at least four of them and we're in a residential basement. We tell them it's a personal vendetta by a man who thinks the team destroyed his life," Will told her.

"That will be the key, won't it? Figuring out how we supposedly destroyed his life? Was he family of a victim we didn't save? Or a family of an Unsub we put out of commission by way of jail or death?"

"That's exactly the way we need to be thinking. We need to focus on putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Maybe you will get the chance to talk to Derek and you two know how to talk without words." Will said.

Pen gave an indelicate snort, "Not so much anymore, I think that ship has sailed." She said morosely.

"Why, what happened to Baby Girl and her, oh what did J.J. tell me you called him?" Will snapped his fingers, "Your Chocolate Adonis. I love the stories that J.J. comes home and tells me about. What changed?"

"Me, I guess. I finally realized that I couldn't be with Kevin because I was in love with Derek. When Derek asked why we broke up, I foolishly told him the real reason. He obviously doesn't feel the same way and he's been distancing himself from me the past couple of weeks. I can't take it back and I think I've lost him for good. I don't know that I can do this job without him. The last few days I have seriously been thinking about asking for a transfer. As much as I don't want to leave the only people I call family, being around Derek like this hurts too much." Penelope hung her head and tried to fight the new batch of tears that threatened her vision.

"Aww, Pen it will be ok. I have seen the way Derek looks at you. He is a lot like J.J. in that way. She tried to run from me, to hide what she was feeling. You just threw Derek for a loop. I know he loves you, just give him a little more time. Don't give up and don't you dare transfer. I don't think J.J. could handle it if you did. You were one of the things she missed the most working at the D.O.D. and one of the things she was happiest to get back too. You hold that family together, don't run."

Before Penelope could answer the door opened and Jack, Henry and Bob were coming down the stairs. They were followed by two men carrying one of those plastic conference room tables. One of the men was sporting two black eyes and a swollen nose. Henry ran straight to his dad and sat down next to him. Will grabbed his son's hand and squeezed it. Jack set down next to Penelope as the men put the table down to Will's left, directly in front of Pen.

"Well, ladies and gentleman," Bob said. "It is time for a little fun with the BAU. Boys, you are going to say hi and then head back upstairs so we can have a more…adult conversation." The smile he gave them unnerved Penelope and she exchanged a worried glance with Will.

Jack leaned into her side and whispered," They took us upstairs so we could go to the bathroom and eat. They had cooked just for us, at least none of the others ate it."

"What was it? And did they let you go in the bathroom alone or did someone follow you in?" Pen asked, worried one of the guys was a pervert.

"No, they let me and Henry go in by ourselves. I helped him and made him wash his hands and then we ate chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese. Bob sat down with us and asked us about school and what we were learning about. I didn't get the chance to talk much because Henry was telling him about Pre-K. Bob was really weird; he watched and listened to Henry like he really cared. He looked kinda like my dad does when I'm telling him a story."

Penelope looked down at Jack, pondering what he had just told her.

"Oh, and there were 5 guys. The three that came to the house, and two more up there. It looks like a normal house. I'm sure if they left us alone for a few minutes, Henry and I could get out and go for help." Jack told her, looking pleased with himself and anxious at the same time.

"Jack, don't rush or force anything, but if you have a chance then definitely get you and Henry out. Next time you are upstairs look around, but don't let them catch you. See if there's mail lying out with an address, or pictures on the wall. If there are, who is in them?" Penelope squeezed his hand and then turned her attention to Bob.

While she and Jack had been talking he and his goons had set up a laptop on the table and a camcorder on a tripod facing Will, Pen and the boys. Bob rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "Ok, we are all ready for the next show."

He pulled his cell phone out and dialed a number. When the call was answered he said, "Hello Emily, I hope that I have caught you and your coworkers together…I did? Oh Goody. Tell Aaron I have sent him another email with a link in it. And Emily, make yourselves presentable before you open the link because we will be able to see you as well."He disconnected the call, pulled his ski mask out of his back pocket and tugged it over his face.

He then turned to his captives. "We are fixing to have so much fun. Well I am, you guys probably not so much." He watched the computer screen waiting for the team to pop up.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: After watching tonight's season finale, I almost feel bad for the direction this story is taking. But not really, I like angst. Besides, in my next story, none of this ever happened. That's the great part of FanFiction! My French is courtesy of Google translate. I typed in what I wanted to say and it gave me what I posted. Unfortunately, I don't have the little marks over the letters so it apparently changes the pronunciation. You don't have to look it up, I explain in the next chapter what it means, so you can let it be a mystery. **

Emily had given the heads up and now everyone, including Strauss and Lynch, had moved into the conference room. Kevin had brought Hotch's email up on the big screen and waited for the cue to bring it up.

"I want this recorded so we can play it back if we need to." Hotch told Kevin.

"Yes sir, it's already setup. Try to keep them on video for as long as possible. It will be easier to trace an IP address than a disposable cell." Kevin responded.

"That was already my goal." Hotch said. "Will may try to get a message to us so be on the lookout for that. Everyone ready?" When he saw his team nod he gave Kevin the go ahead.

As the video opened the team saw a room with concrete walls and flooring and nothing else. There was a sharp intake of air from someone in the room when they saw Garcia and Will sitting on the floor, chained to the wall.

"Well, well, well, it is my favorite profilers. Oh and Kevin and Erin, lovely of you to join us. As you can see, everyone is still fine. Boys, come say hi to your parents."

As the boys got up Bob looked into the camera, "Don't ask them any funny questions." He grasped Jack's shoulder and gently pulled him forward.

"Hi, dad"

"Hey Buddy" Hotch said, his face softening into a small smile. "Are you ok?"

"Yea, dad, we're ok as we can be. They are treating us nicely."

Bob leaned over and picked Henry up. "Henry, say hello to your mommy."

Bob pointed to the laptop to show Henry where J.J. was. "Hi, mommy" Henry waved to her enthusiastically. "I miss you mommy. Daddy and I wanna come home but we can't. Are you gonna come get us?"

J.J. smiled at her son, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Of course, baby. Momma will be there as soon as I can. You be a good boy for your daddy and Aunt Pen, ok? Do what you're told and I will see you again very soon." J.J. kissed her fingers and held them up to the camera and Henry copied the movement. He was used to video chatting with her when she was away on cases.

"So very sweet," Bob said as he put Henry back down. "Jack, take Henry and go back upstairs now."

Jack waved to his dad, who waved back and took Henry's hand. Out of range of the camera, one of Bob's minions guided them back up the stairs.

When the boys were out of the room, Bob continued. "By now Kevin has realized that he will not be able to trace this."

The team looked at Kevin and he nodded in confirmation.

"This is what you call Irony. The only person that could probably unravel what my computer guy has done is chained up behind me." He turned to Penelope, "How does it feel to be completely useless Penelope?"

"Oh, honey, I'm never completely useless" the endearment popped out before she could stop it and she blushed slightly. It brought half smiles to some of the team, grateful that she was holding up ok. Bob patted her face and turned back to the camera.

"See, just like I said. I have not even broken her spirit…yet. Now let us get down to business. You have 24 hours to find me. If you have not stopped me by then I will put a bullet in one of my new friends. Do not worry, I will let you watch. I know you guys need to actually see the death after what Emily put you through.

He laughed when Emily's face paled. "Oh, look. I hit another nerve. I am very good at that. You know what else I am good at? Showing people how serious I am. I want all of you to know the pain you caused me." Bob snapped his fingers and the two sidekicks came over and started removing Will's chains.

Will looked at Pen and whispered, "Fermez les yeux, mon ami, vous ne voulez pas voir cette."

Bob looked at Will when they had him standing upright in front of him and asked, "I do not speak French, what did you just say to her?"

Will lied and said, "I told her the assholes are going to show how tough they are and beat me."

Bob sneered at him. "Well you are partly right; we are going to cause you physical pain."

He snapped his fingers again and Goon 1 held Will from behind as Goon 2 landed his first punch to Will's face. Once he started, the punches came in rapid succession. Blood was pouring from Will's nose and a cut on his cheek, but he hadn't made a sound. Goon 1 started alternating between hits to the face and ones to his chest and sides. Bob didn't watch the beating but chose instead to watch the faces of the people helpless to stop it.

"Ah, Ah, Ah, Jennifer open your eyes. You do not want to miss a moment of your husband do you? It may be the last time you ever see him again."

At this point Will could barely stand. Goon 1 let him drop to the floor and he and his friend took turns kicking him. Goon 2 happened to notice Garcia's hand moving rapidly. "Hey Boss?" he said and when Bob turned to him he used his eyes to motion to Garcia's hand. Bob walked over to Penelope and squatted in front of her, blocking the camera's view of her. He reached out and grabbed her left hand that had been moving.

"My sweet, stupid Penelope, were you trying to signal to your friends?" Pen rapidly shook her head no but made no sound. She thought if she opened her mouth she would start wailing for his minions to stop their torture of Will. Bob brought his hand up to wipe the tears off her face, when she pulled away from him he got angry.

"I thought you understood that I do not take insubordination lightly." Bob said very softly, for only Pen's ears. He grasped her first finger and bent it back until it snapped.

Penelope couldn't stop the scream that erupted from her and she spoke rapidly in French, "II a eu des enfants et de les perdre a cause de nous!"

When Bob looked at her with an eyebrow raised she stammered, "I cuss in French, that way I don't accidently teach a child a bad word, or get in trouble at work."

Bob put his hand around her throat and began squeezing. "For some reason I do not believe that is the truth at all. Do not speak French in my presence again. You will speak nothing but English when I am in the room. There will be no tricks. Have I made myself clear?"

Penelope could not bring her hands up, and his hand made it impossible to nod. She settled for blinking rapidly hoping he would understand that to be yes. He smiled and released her into a fit of coughing.

"Well, that is pretty smart Penelope. I hope I will not have to teach you another lesson."

He motioned for his men to stop kicking Will and walked to the camera. He looked directly at the team who were all trying to hold it together and said, "You have 24 hours," and then shut off the camera and laptop.


	6. Chapter 6

There was a moment of silence and then the conference turned into a flurry of motion and noise. J.J. ran for the bathroom again and Derek left to find a wall to punch that wasn't in front of Strauss. Hotch turned his back on the people remaining in the room so he had a moment to compose himself. Emily and Reid exchanged a glance. They both had information to share but knew no one was in the mood to hear it yet.

Emily said, "I'm gonna go get J.J. Dave, can you and Reid find Derek and get him back here. Pen gave us a clue."

"She gave us more than one," replied Reid; and then left with Rossi to find Derek.

After Emily left the room, Strauss turned to Hotch. "Aaron, is there anything I can do?"

Hotch ran his hand over his head. "I don't know, can you use your evil powers for good and make those men drop dead and my family to be standing here?" He looked over at her and instantly regretted it. "I'm sorry, that was out-of-line. At the moment no, I don't think there is anything you can do. But I would appreciate your observations on what you just saw.

"Aaron, I know everyone on your team is human, with human emotions. I am not going to pull you off the case just because you snapped at me. Or because Agent Jareau is vomiting after seeing her husband get brutally beaten. I won't even pull Agent Morgan off the case if he's destroying government property like I think he is. I'm just here to make sure that the emotions aren't crippling you." Strauss paused and waited for Hotch to acknowledge what she had said.

When he nodded, she continued. "As to the video, I think it's one leader, someone in the BAU has had contact with him in the past, and the rest are people he hired to do his dirty work. If you find who the leader is, you will find your family." Strauss finished and looked over at Kevin who had remained silent since the video started. "Mr. Lynch, can you pull all threats made to this specific BAU team? This man has probably sent something in at some point."

"Yes ma'am, I'm on it."

"Aaron, step outside for a minute and take a break. I will let you know when everyone has returned."

"Thanks," was Hotch's reply as he headed for the door. "Really, I appreciate everything."

**In the bathroom…**

After getting sick again, J.J. stood at the sink and splashed water on her face. She looked in the mirror and saw Emily standing there, watching her.

"How far along are you?" Emily asked her.

J.J. didn't even bother trying to deny it. "Two months. We just found out last Wednesday. Will was so excited. He wants a little girl to spoil. What if he doesn't make it Em? They hurt him bad. What if he has internal injuries and we don't make it to him in time? This new baby won't ever know their dad. And what about Henry?" She sobbed her son's name.

"He's too young to understand what is happening. I can't even fathom losing him. I can't watch what's going on but I can't _not_ watch. I can't tell Hotch that I can't handle this because I have to know what's going on." J.J. felt her knees start to buckle and grabbed onto the counter.

Emily quickly put her arm around her friend's waist and sat her down in one of the chairs the Bureau had thoughtfully put in for mothers that needed to express milk. Emily kneeled in front of her and grabbed her hand.

"Don't do this to yourself. We will get them back, all of them. We already have clues. We just need to focus and put them together and we will bring Will, Henry, P.G. and Jack home. I need to go and let the others know what Pen said, do you want to stay here a while longer, or come with?"

J.J. wiped the tears off her face and stood up. "I'm ready to go back. You're right, they will come home. We just have to put the puzzle together with the pieces we were given. Let's go."

The two ladies left the restroom ready to return to the fray.

**Up on the roof**

"I sure hope you aren't thinking about jumping son, because that will mean even more paperwork for us." Rossi said as he and Reid approached Derek as he stood at the edge of the roof, staring off into space.

Derek snorted and said sarcastically, "That would be a shame, old man, for you to have to do more paperwork. I guess I won't do it then."

He sighed and continued, "I just can't get that sound out of my head. I know that Will just got pummeled but all I hear in my head is my Baby Girl's finger snapping. I don't even know why the bastard broke it. One second he was watching us and the next he was in front of Pen."

"It was because she was sending me messages." Reid said, causing both Derek and Rossi to look at him quickly.

"What?" Rossi said, "How?"

"She was using the binary system of 1's and 0's. When the guy stopped hitting Will and started kicking him, he must have seen it. The leader acknowledged him and that's when he went over to Garcia. I don't know what he said to her, but that's why he broke her finger."

"I didn't even see it." Rossi said.

"I saw her hand moving, I just thought she had a nervous twitch going on." Derek said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I can't lose her, even though I may have already. I just want her to be here healthy and alive. I don't even care if she hates me at this point, just as long as she is ok."

Spencer was confused, "Why would she hate you?"

Rossi shook his head at him. "You are a genius, but you miss the most obvious stuff that is the closest to you, kid. Anybody paying attention the past couple of weeks could see that something was going on between Penelope and Derek. They've avoided each other like the plague and there's been no banter or flirting. So, spill it Morgan. What happened?"

"Actually," Reid interjected. "I have noticed the distance and animosity between Morgan and Garcia. I just happen to be the only one that respects the 'no inter-team profiling' rule. I just know that they can't stay away from each other long and I think Garcia is closer to missing him than hating him. What started the fight?"

Derek blew out a breath and said, "She told me that she and Kevin broke up because she wasn't IN love with him. She was in love with me. Not only did I not say anything, I took off and stayed away. It's not that I don't love her, because I do. And it's not that I'm not IN love with her, because I am. I just freaked for a moment and I saw the look on her face and knew I had screwed up, so I ran. I had wanted her to say those words for so long that I didn't know what to do when she did. Then she was so mad at me, and she should have been. She won't talk to me, she won't let me explain."

"Our Tech Kitten is a smart girl. I'm sure that if you were granted the opportunity to explain it to her, she will understand. If I have to, I will arrange that opportunity. You both deserve the chance to be happy; and you are the happiest when you are together. But first, we have to get her back. Let's go inside and do that." Rossi patted Derek on the back and then grasped his shoulder to guide him inside.


	7. Chapter 7

_**AN: The last chapter left me feeling a little blah. When this story first implanted itself in my brain, it was going to be all about Pen and the boys in the basement. It morphed into a longer story with more team involvement and I have found myself struggling to find them something to say. I hope I have done them justice. The song referenced at the end is Honey Bee by Blake Shelton. **_

_**In case you forgot, I own nothing **_

CMCMCMCMCM

The team gathered back in the conference room. Tensions were still high but they knew they needed to keep their heads on straight; they were now definitely on a time limit.

"Emily, Reid…You said you had something to share?" Hotch asked as he walked back into the room.

Emily jumped in, "Yeah, when Garcia was yelling in French she didn't cuss. She said she thinks that the guy has kids because he is too nice and interested in Jack and Henry."

Derek ran with it, "If he does, they were taken from him either by the state, an ex-wife or death."

Hotch turned to Lynch, "Cross reference any case where we received threats that children were involved in." He waited for Kevin to nod and moved on. "Emily, what did Will say to Garcia in French?"

Emily's head dipped and she softly replied, "Close your eyes, my friend; you don't want to see this."

Hotch nodded and said, "It must have been a test to see if they called him on his lie. Reid, what did you get?"

Holding his little notebook, Reid moved to where everyone could see him. "The entire time, Garcia was sending me messages in Binary code. Binary code uses 1's and 0's to represent letters. By just moving her finger she was able to send me a wealth of information."

Chief Strauss interrupted, "So that's why he broke her finger?"

"Yes, ma'am," Reid responded. "I believe so. Garcia was able to let me know that there are 5 men, with one leader. I'm pretty sure she said the leader's name was Bob, but I would assume that is not his given name. She also let me know they are in a basement of a typical house in suburbia. She thinks it's a personal vendetta, which we were already fairly sure of, but he blames us for destroying his life. One more thing, the kids aren't tied up and Jack thinks he might be able to get out at some point. Garcia told him not to put himself in danger but if he got the opportunity to go."

"She was able to tell you all that in the short amount of time we were watching?" Strauss asked, slightly amazed.

"Most of it was shorthanded, but yes, Garcia is remarkably fast with Binary. Also, she knew that we would record and watch it again if we missed something." Reid told her, with a hint of pride.

"How does any of what she said help you though?" Kevin asked. "It doesn't matter that there are five guys or they are in a house, if we don't know where that house is. We already know that it's personal. She didn't really give us anything useful." He looked like a petulant child, trying to get his playmate in trouble.

Derek started to move towards Lynch, his face contorted with anger. Rossi stopped him and stepped up to Kevin's side. "First of all, young man, negative opinions are not needed. Second, Garcia did a wonderfully brave thing even trying to get us a message. It shows us that she is keeping her head on straight and looking for opportunities. Third, these things will help us when we find them. Knowing how many people are in the house and where our people are will be useful knowledge to have when we go in to get them out. Also, we now know to be on the lookout and ready to move quickly if Jack does make it out. From now on, if you don't have a productive statement, relevant to the case, keep your mouth shut. If you can't be professional we will replace you, even if you are the _**second**_ best tech in the building.

Rossi placed an emphasis on second and smirked when Kevin grimaced.

"Morgan, what did you guys find at the house?" Hotch moved the conversation back to less destructive territory. "We were interrupted by the phone call before you could fill us in."

"Besides the busted picture and blood in the kitchen, there were no signs of anything happening in that house." Derek struggled to focus and push the urge to knock Lynch off his chair to the bottom of his list of priorities.

"There was nothing missing but Henry's go bag which just has a couple of changes of clothes in it." J.J. added quietly.

Kevin's computer beeped and they all looked over at the analyst. "Blood testing is done; they got a match on the blood found at the house. It belonged to James Tyler, two times in jail for theft and assault, paroled six months ago."

"Address?" Hotch asked.

"I have one but it's a building that was condemned by the city."

Hotch nodded. "Start tracking his known associates, chance are, the guys working for 'Bob' know each other. Prentiss, Morgan, go check the last known and talk to his probation officer. Kevin have you got the list of threats?"

Kevin nodded and handed Hotch the list. "Based on the parameters you gave, I narrowed it to 33 threats that were possibly from this guy."

Hotch continued, "Reid, watch the video again. See what else you can get from it. J.J., David and I are going to start going through the list and see if we can make it smaller. One of us has probably talked to this guy. He is arrogant; he only calls us by our first names."

"He also has some form of OCD," Reid interjected. "He has not once used a contraction. He is very formal in his speech."

Everyone thought about this and realized Reid was right, they had never once heard Bob use a contraction. It was always, "I am or I have" instead of "I'm or I've" which most people say without thinking about.

"Good Reid, let's find this asshole." Hotch said, dismissing them to their respective duties.

"Morgan, hold up," Reid called as Derek and Emily left the conference room. He followed them and when they were out of hearing range of the other, Reid said, "The last thing that Garcia signed was 'Tell D, still honey b-e-e. Does that mean anything to you?"

"Yea, kid it does." Derek said in a husky voice. "I told her about a song I heard that reminded me of us. She'll be my honeysuckle, I'm her honey bee."

"That's why P.G. was singing that song for two weeks straight." Emily exclaimed. "I don't know how many times I heard "If you'll be my soft and sweet, I'll be your strong and steady. You be my glass of wine and I'll be your shot of Whiskey…when I would pass by her office."

Both Emily and Reid realized that it was the first time they had seen Derek smile in two weeks. "It really fits us," he said. "She was letting me know we're gonna be ok."

"Rossi was right, Morgan," Reid said.

"I know," was Derek's only response.

"Right about what?" Emily asked.

"Come on, I'll explain in the car." Derek grabbed her hand and pulled her to the elevator.


	8. Chapter 8

_**AN: The song referenced is Strawberry Fields by the Beatles. The last few chapters have been mostly dialogue and little action…all that's about to change. *laughing demonically* **_

_**I own nothing**_

Back in the basement…

Penelope cradled her hand with the broken finger. It was amazing to her that such a small part of her body could cause so much pain. Then she felt guilty for even thinking about her pain after what Will had just been through. She looked over at him and her heart ached for him. He was laying on his left side, facing her, still curled in on himself. He had tried to protect his head, but they still got a couple of kicks to it. He was mostly awake but his eyes were dilated and unfocused. Pen had hoped that their pain had been worth something. She really hoped Reid had understood. He had given her a couple of small nods so she had to believe that he got her message. It would be the only good thing to come out of that phone call.

"Well, I do not know about you, but I think that went very well Penelope." Bob told her, as he knelt down between her and Will. "All your friends are probably sitting there crying, worrying whether Will can survive this beating. But my men know how to deliver a painful, but survivable, message so you should not worry your pretty little head about that. HA! Best team in the business, my ass. They took everything away from me. My job, house and family and I will do the same to them. I am a little sad that there are only two children from all seven of you. I guess when you are too busy meddling in other people's lives it does not leave room for much else. "

He brushed his knees off and stood up, "I am going to leave you for now Pretty Penny. Try to get some sleep; we are going to be very busy in a little while."

"Wait," Penelope called. Bob turned back to her. "If you are bringing the boys down could you please let me clean Will up a little? I don't want Henry to be scared and you have been so good to them up to now."

Bob chuckled, "Such a sweetheart Penelope. I had already planned on getting him cleaned up." With that he turned and made his way up the stairs.

There was a moment of silence and then the goons, (or Thing 1 and 2 as Pen thought of them) came down and hauled Will into a sitting position. Ignoring his moans of pain, they dragged him back against the wall where he was before. They didn't bother to chain his waist; they just circled one ankle with the cuff and secured that to the wall. Thing 1 (with the broken nose) squatted in front of Will and with and started cleaning his face with baby wipes. He was being unnecessarily rough with his scrubbing, enjoying the extra pain he was causing Will.

"Hey Tweedledee?" Pen called out. "You and Tweedledum obviously don't want to be cleaning up, so let me do it."

Thing 1 turned to Thing 2, "Did she just call me Tweedledee?"

"Yea, which I guess makes me Tweedledum," replied Thing 2. "Having a smart mouth won't get you anything in here but pain, Blondie. You would do well to remember that and keep that pretty mouth shut. Otherwise I might have to fill it, so you can't talk at all."

Thing 2 started to move towards her, but Thing 1 stopped him. "You know what the boss will do to you if you mess up his plans. Here, take the trash out and I will be upstairs in a minute. I got the Cajun as clean as I could."

Thing 2 took the bag of dirty wipes and started up the stairs. He leered at Penelope one last time, "Just wait bitch, you will get yours." Then he was gone.

"You and your friends sure know how to make enemies, huh?" said Thing 1 and then he was gone too.

"Will, can you talk? What hurts the most?" Penelope asked her friend.

"I'm pretty sure my ribs get the award for what hurts the most. What were you thinking, Pen? Yelling that in French? What if he'd been lying about understanding me? And why did Bob break your finger…what were you doing?" Will grimaced and clutched his sides, winded.

"I was sending Reid messages using Binary code." Penelope wished she could do something to ease his pain.

"That's the computer code with ones and zeroes, right?"

"Dumplin, you got it right in one! I'm pretty sure he understood me, but even if he didn't, they recorded the video. Reid will watch it two or three more times. We have to do something, we only have 24 hours." Pen got panicky thinking about just how short an amount of time that was.

"Yea, I heard. I'm not gonna be much help in an escape attempt. I'm pretty sure Tweedledum broke my ankle when he stomped on it. Geez Pen, really? Tweedledum? You shouldn't antagonize them." Will couldn't be too mad at her, not many other people would have stayed as together as she had. Plus, it had made him smile.

"I give everyone nicknames, my charming Cajun, and that was the first that popped in my head. I'm not known for filtering what comes out of my mouth." Pen looked slightly abashed, but not sorry.

"Well, please work on filtering with these guys. I think if Tweedledum had been alone in here he would have cause you a world of pain. Trust me; it's not something you want. "

Before Will could chastise her anymore the door opened and the boys came down the stairs.

"Henry," Penelope called. "Come sit next to me." She motioned for Jack to set on her left side so that Henry would be on her right. She figured Jack would be less likely to bump her broken finger. She showed it to him, so he would be aware of it, but put her fingers to her lips to keep him from alerting Henry to it.

"Daddy, how you get dose boo-boo's?" Henry asked in a tiny voice.

"Henry, how I got them is not important. What is important is how long it will take mommy to kiss them all better." Will told his son.

"A loooonnnngg time, Daddy!" Henry almost shouted.

"What did you guys do up there all that time?" Penelope asked.

"We watched cartoons," Jack told her. "We watched Fanboy and ChumChum and then Phineas and Ferb, which reminded me of my dad. He said Baljeet kinda reminds him of Uncle Spencer." This brought a chuckle from Will.

"Well, sweetie, I don't know who that is but if your dad says he does, than I'm sure he's right." Pen smiled down at him.

There was a moment of silence and then Henry said, "I'm scared. Am I gonna get boo-boo's too?"

"Love Bug, they are not going to hurt you. Your mommy and Aunt Emily and all your uncles are coming for us. We just have to sit tight. Come here, sugar." He raised her arm a little so Henry could slide under and cuddle up against her.

She had no idea what time it was but figured it was way past either of their bed times. "Close your eyes Henry, try to rest.

"Aunt Pen?"

"Yes, Jack?"

"Will you sing us a song?" Jack always loved when Penelope stayed with him when Aunt Jess couldn't because she used to sing to him at bedtime. It reminded him of his mom; they both had pretty voices.

"You bet Jackers, lay your head on my shoulder and you close your eyes too. I shall sing my fair lads a lullaby."

The boys did as she asked and she started singing one of her favorite songs to them.

_**Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields.**_

_**Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about.**_

_**Strawberry Fields forever.**_

_**Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.**_

_**It's getting hard to be someone but it all works out.**_

_**It doesn't matter much to me.**_

_**Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields.**_

_**Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about.**_

_**Strawberry Fields forever.**_

_**No one I think is in my tree; I mean it must be high or low.**_

_**That is you can't you know tune in but it's all right.**_

_**That is I think it's not too bad.**_

_**Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields.**_

_**Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about.**_

_**Strawberry Fields forever.**_

_**Always know sometimes think it's me, but you know I know and it's a dream.**_

_**I think I know of thee, ah yes, but it's all wrong.**_

_**That is I think I disagree.**_

_**Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields.**_

_**Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about.**_

_**Strawberry Fields forever.**_

_**Strawberry Fields forever.**_

_**Strawberry Fields forever.**_

By the end of the song Henry was asleep and Jack was almost there. He whispered, "One more, please,

Aunt Pen."

She obliged and sang until he was asleep and she noticed that Will had either passed out or was asleep

as well. Penelope closed her eyes as well and was surprised when she felt herself falling asleep. Too bad

it didn't last long.


	9. Chapter 9

They were rudely awakened when the door slammed open and Bob came stomping down the stairs. Penelope felt like she had just closed her eyes. They now felt gritty and dry and she couldn't even bring her hands high enough to rub them.

"Good morning, boys. Would you like some breakfast?" Bob asked them cheerfully.

Henry jumped up as fast as he could untangle himself from Penelope. "Can we hab eggs and pannycakes? They my favorite." The little boy said excitedly.

"I think that can be arranged, little man." Bob replied with a genuine smile. "How about you Jack, does that sound good?"

"Yes sir, that sounds fine," Jack told him.

"Umm Bob?" Penelope asked nervously. "We've been here for quite some time and I'm in dire need of a bathroom break.'

"Let me get the boys some breakfast and I will come back and get you. I am sure you can hold it for a little longer." Bob told her. He took the boys and left the basement.

When they had left the room Pen looked over at Will. In the hours since the beating the bruising had taken over and there was more damaged skin then unblemished. His left eye was so swollen she didn't think he would even be able to open it. He proved her right when he opened the other eye and looked over at Penelope.

"What time is it? Where are the boys?" He asked her.

"I assume it's morning because Bob just came and took the boys upstairs for breakfast." Pen replied.

"Mmm, breakfast. " Will distracted them before they thought too much about food. "You know, J.J. told me that you had a great voice, but that's an understatement. If you ever got tired of crime fighting you could probably make it a career."

"That's nice of you to say my intelligent fox, but I don't think showbiz is the life for me. Too many cutthroat bitches. I am content singing karaoke and the occasional musical on stage." Penelope shuddered thinking about being in the spotlight 24/7.

"What musicals have you done?"

"So far my group has done Sweeney Todd and Rent, but I'm currently trying to persuade them to do Guys and Dolls. I have my heart set on playing Adelaide."

Will laughed, "You would be a wonderful Adelaide. I wish I had known about the other two. I would have loved to have seen them."

"Oh, wow. J.J.'s husband is a closet musical theater lover. I can't wait to bring that up." Penelope gleefully said.

"There are certain ones I'm a fan of, like Sweeney Todd and Across the Universe. There are many that I would never watch, like Cats or Oklahoma. They don't appeal to me at all. Plus, it makes it better when someone you know is performing. My sister was Sarah in our high school production of Guys and Dolls. She roped me into it and I played Nathan Detroit."

Penelope could not stop the laugh that escaped. "I cannot picture you with your thick accent, playing born-and-raised-in-New York Nathan. What I would give to see that."

"I'll tell you what, when we get out of here and you convince your group to do Guys and Dolls, I will audition with you and we can sing 'Sue me'. I would give you a preview, by my ribs won't give me the air I need for that song."

"That's ok Will, but I am going to hold you to it."

"Ok, so I'm gonna tell you something but you have to fake surprise later when J.J. tells you." Will lowered his voice preparing to tell the news.

"Oh, I love secrets, what is it?"

"We're gonna have another baby."

Penelope squealed with excitement, worries momentarily erased. "Oh my gosh Will, I'm so excited for you! How far along is she? What do you want, another boy or a little girl?"

Will smiled at Pen's response. "She's about two months and she doesn't care. While I would love either, I really want a Daddy's girl to spoil. Knowing J.J. and I though, she will probably be a tomboy and want nothing to do with the frills and lace I picture her in."

Pen's eyes glittered with tears. "Henry's gonna be a big brother! I will have to start his lessons now on how to protect her without turning into overprotective annoying brother."

"He will be a great big brother. I just hope J.J. is taking care of herself right now. The stress of us being kidnapped cannot be good for her right now. She looked really pale on the video."

"My sweet gumdrop will be fine as soon as we get home. We will make her stay in bed and recuperate with you. Just tell her you won't rest unless she does." Pen told him.

"I want to get her healthy, not piss her off Pen," Will said, laughing.

The door to the basement opened and the boys came down, followed by Bob. Bob was carrying a water bottle and a small trashcan. He dropped the water bottle in Will's lap and said, "Drink the water and use the bottle to relieve yourself and throw it in here. I do not want to see it. "

He moved to stand in front of Penelope. "Now, behave sweet thing or next time you will be left to soil yourself." He waited for her acknowledgement, and when she nodded he started unlocking her chains. He made sure to knock the cuffs on her broken finger, making her whimper and bite her lip.

He smiled at her and then helped her to her feet. She wobbled for a second after sitting for so long and then found her balance. Bob gestured for her to go up the stairs first and then followed her up.

When the door shut Jack turned to Will. "As much as I would rather not, if you need help, let me know."

Will laughed and said, "Thanks kid, but I'm pretty sure I've got this, my hands aren't broken. What did you guys eat for breakfast?" His stomach rumbled at the thought of food. He thought of the last time he ate. It had only been about 24 hours, but it felt like so much longer.

"We had pannycakes Daddy!" Henry shouted. "Bob made 'em look like stars. His eggs were gross." The little boy made a disgusted face.

"Aunt Pen asked me to look around the house if I got the chance. She said to look for mail and I found some when we were sitting in the kitchen. Bob moved it too fast but I saw 325 Mountain Oak before he did. I didn't see pictures of any kind."

Before Jack could say anything more, or Will could respond, they heard Penelope scream from upstairs and a lot of movement. Henry jumped up and ran to his dad. He threw himself down on Will's legs and covered his ears as they heard Penelope continue to scream. Jack got up and went towards the stairs.

"What are you doing?" Will asked him.

"I'm gonna listen and see if I can hear what's going on." Jack told him.

"No Jack, don't do that. Not only do you not need to hear it, if they open the door it will hit you. Come sit back down with us." Will used his hand to motion Jack back towards them.

"I can't just sit there Will, they are hurting her," Jack yelled. "I have to do something to help her because you can't!"

"JACK, sit down! There is nothing you can do. There are five guys up there and they have guns and strength that you don't. You will help her more if you don't piss them off and get yourself chained up."

Jack plopped down next to Henry and they all stared at the door. Penelope's screams had faded away but they could still hear the guys yelling to each other. They couldn't make out the words but from the tone of the voices, they sounded like they were cheering on a game. Will feared the worst for his bubbly friend. He closed his eyes and sent up a quick prayer as he stroked his little boy's back, trying to calm him down.

Will was worried that Jack and Henry were going to get a front row seat to see the worst things a man could do to a woman. He knew he should distract them somehow, talk to them or play some game but he couldn't think of anything to say.

Henry had just started to calm down when a gunshot echoed throughout the basement and the house above. There was yelling and then no noise at all.

Jack looked up at Will; he had tears streaming down his face. "Please, please, please tell me they did not just do what I think they did Will, Please."

"I don't know Jack, I would like to say no because it wasn't part of the plan and Bob doesn't have an audience to see it, but I don't know. As hard as it sounds we will have to wait."

Jack nodded and wiped the tears off his face. He scooted back until the wall was at his back and he was shoulder-to-shoulder with Will. They stared at the door hoping Penelope would come back through it.


	10. Chapter 10

After what felt like ages, the door to the basement opened again. Tweedledee came in first, and Tweedledum was behind him and they were carrying Penelope. They got to the bottom of the stairs and just dropped her. She hit the ground hard, but made no noise.

Tweedledum sneered and said, "I told you, you would get yours, bitch." Both goons then turned and left the basement.

Will, Henry and Jack stared at Penelope, too scared to move or say anything. She was lying on her left side, with her back to them, facing the stairs. Will picked Henry up and put him in Jack's lap. He got himself onto his hands and knees and, ignoring the pain in his ankles and ribs, crawled over to Penelope.

The chain around his unbroken ankle was just long enough to allow him to reach her. He touched her shoulder and was relieved when she flinched. Positioning himself where the boys wouldn't be able to see her, he rolled her onto her back.

Her face was mottled with bruising and her mouth was covered with duct tape. The part that scared Will the most were her eyes. They stared at the ceiling, unmoving and unfocused. He quickly scanned the rest of her body. Her dress was torn from one shoulder and hung loosely, just long enough to cover her chest. It was soaked with blood, but Will couldn't tell if it was hers without moving clothing, and that was not a good idea right now.

He looked down at her legs and saw blood near her knees, on the inside of her legs. There were handprint-shaped bruises around her ankles and matching ones on her wrists. Will dropped his head and sent a request for guidance toward the heavens.

"Penelope?" he said in a soft voice. "I'm going to take the tape off your mouth. I will try not to hurt you, but it probably will and I'm so sorry." He reached out and gripped one corner of the tape, quick or slow? He decided to do it fast and ripped the tape off in one quick motion.

Penelope jerked and brought her hands up to fight him off. He grabbed her right hand but didn't grab her left as it was clearly broken and he didn't want to cause her anymore pain. He whispered to her, "It's ok, cher, it's ok. You're back with Will and Henry and Jack. We aren't gonna hurt you. Can you look at me?"

Pen's eyes finally focused on him and when she realized it was Will touching her, she put her hands down but still didn't say anything.

"Pen, can you move? Let's sit back down by the wall." She struggled to turn over, but when he went to help her she recoiled from his touch so he pulled his hands back. Will backed away from her and crawled back to the wall and sat down.

"Come on Penelope, you can do it sweetheart." Pen managed to half pull, half crawl over to Will and dropped down beside him. Facing the wall she curled up on his left side with her head resting on his leg, right above the knee. She stared at the wall, not moving, not talking. If she hadn't responded to him earlier, he would have thought she was catatonic.

Jack had moved over into the corner and had Henry turned into his chest so that he couldn't see his fairy godmother's condition. Jack was old enough that he understood what had happened to Penelope and he cried again seeing his normally vivacious aunt being so quiet and still.

"Is the blood hers?" Jack asked, scared to know the answer.

"I don't think so," Will told him. "I can't find anywhere it's coming from. I think she was too close to whoever was sh..hurt."

The door to the basement opened and Bob stuck his head in. "My apologies, my men were supposed to bring the boys up when they brought Miss Penelope back. Boys, I have cartoons and snacks for you, get up and come on."

Reluctantly Jack got up and pulled Henry up; keeping him turned away from Penelope, and went back up the stairs.

After they were gone Will brushed Penelope's hair out of her face. "Pen, the boys are upstairs if you want to talk you can. What happened up there? Who was shot?" Penelope shuddered at his last question and closed her eyes, only to open them again quickly. Will softly stroked her hair and whispered words of comfort in French.

"Will?" came Penelope's voice, very quiet and broken. "Will you sing me something?"

"Any preferences?" When she shook her head slightly, indicating no he said, "This one was one of my favorite songs when J.J. and I met and it has always reminded me of her.

_**They should've named you cocaine  
Your all in my brain  
Drivin' me insane  
They should've named you cocaine**_

Cause every time I hold you honey  
I get so high and blow all my money  
But I can't complain  
Cause I'm feelin' no pain  
They should've named you cocaine

Got me writin' all these songs  
Stayin' up all night long  
Like a fast movin train  
They should've named you cocaine

Cause every time I hold you honey  
I get so high and blow all my money  
But I can't complain  
Cause I'm feelin no pain  
They should've named you cocaine

Cause every time I hold you honey  
I get so high and blow all my money  
But I can't complain  
Cause I'm feelin no pain  
They should've named you cocaine

I'm feelin no pain  
They should've named you cocaine

"You're right, that is J.J." Penelope whispered. Will didn't get the chance to ask her about anything as Bob entered the basement. Will wondered for a moment about how he always seemed to have the worst timing.

Without saying anything, Bob walked over to the laptop and camera and turned them on. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.

"Hello Aaron, follow the link and join us again. Things are about to get fun." He hung up and looked over at his captives. "Will I expect you to carry the conversation since our fair Penelope is feeling poorly. Do not worry; it won't be a long conversation. It will actually take just a few minutes to explain the game we are going to play."

The computer beeped, signaling the team's arrival. The way the camera was positioned, they could only see the top of Penelope's head and part of her back where she was curled up on Will's leg. Panicked questions started being thrown at Will. Hotch and J.J. wanted to know where the boys were and Derek wanted to know what was wrong with Penelope.

"Baby girl, look at me. Will, is she ok?" Derek asked him frantically.

Will thought for a moment and gave them the most informative answer he could. "Her physical injuries will heal, even if she doesn't get to a hospital. But no, she is not ok. The boys are fine, they are watching cartoons. "

With that said, Bob stepped in front of them, blocking them both from the team's view. "Penelope will be just fine; she just partied a little too hard." At his malicious grin Derek felt his temper snap.

"You sorry son-of-a-bitch! When I get my hands on you there won't be enough of you left to justify a body bag!"

Rossi and Emily stepped in and grabbed Derek by his arms and tried to pull him back. He kept yelling as they dragged him back. "Just wait asshole, I'm gonna make you regret the day you ever decided to touch the people we care about!" He was still screaming at Bob as he was taken out of the room.

"Well Aaron, it looks like you have your hands full so I will keep this short." Bob turned to Will and Penelope. "We are going to play a little game called 'Who gets it?'. I am going to give Will and Penelope one hour to decide who gets the bullet from my gun. Until then…"

Bob leaned forward and cut the connection. He walked around Penelope's legs until he could see her face. "Penelope, do you understand? You and Will have a lot to discuss. I would not waste any time."

At her nod, he patted her leg, chuckling when she drew it back from his touch. "Have fun you two, I will be back in an hour. Make peace with whatever deity you believe in."

He turned and once again left them alone.


	11. Chapter 11

Hotch stormed out of the conference room searching for Derek. When he found him, his temper exploded. "What the hell were you thinking? You just gave him the emotional reaction he was looking for! You are not the only person with a loved one in danger. Get your act together or I will have you escorted from the building and place you on house arrest, with guards, until this is over."

Derek took a step back and rubbed his hand over his head. "Hotch, man, I am so sorry. She was just lying there, so still and silent. And then after what Will said, when Bob said it was pretty much her fault, I lost it. I can keep my head in this. Please, don't make me walk away. I need to be there for her."

Hotch placed his hand on Derek's shoulder and said in a softer voice, "I know this is hard. I am terrified for my son. I understand your rage and frustration, but one more outburst like that, I will pull you. We will get them back."

Emily and Rossi, who had been standing by silently, both agreed with Hotch.

"We might even arrange for you to have a minute alone with Bob to explain your feelings." Rossi said with a smirk.

"You will do no such thing!" They all turned to see Strauss standing there. "We do not allow vigilantism and once this man is in custody, you will have no access to him. I also understand your feelings. Hell, I would like to knock the guy around too. But if we want him to be convicted, there can be no hint of impropriety. We have to do this by the book. There will be no accidental falls down stairs or running into doors. If you can't abide by that, let me know so I can get other agents on this."

"My team knows how to abide by the rules, Chief Strauss. I can assure you our fantasies will remain just that…fantasies. They merely serve the purpose of relieving stress. There will be no need to replace us." Hotch told her in a frosty tone, angry again.

"Good to know," was Strauss' haughty reply. "Now let's return to the conference room and figure out how to bring our people home."

Emily caught Hotch's eye and motioned for him to stay. After Strauss, Derek and Rossi had returned to the conference room she stepped over to him. She touched a hand to his cheek for a moment and then said, "Jack will come home. So will the others, don't doubt that for a minute."

Hotch nodded and said, "I can't lose him, I don't think I would ever recover from it. I can't even keep my family safe. This is why we can't be together, Em. As much as I love you, I can't risk putting you in danger, just to be happy. "

Emily stepped back, the hurt clear in her eyes. "Don't think we aren't going to talk about this later, but now is not the time to tell you all the ways you are wrong. There is something more important right now. I'm worried about J.J. Hotch, she's pregnant."

Hotch hung his head and his hands fisted.

Emily continued, "I don't think she can handle much more, but she won't walk away. If Will is the one to take the bullet, and I'm pretty sure he will be, and she sees it… It will probably put her in the hospital. "

"Dammit, this nightmare just keeps getting worse. I don't think there is any way I can get her to leave the room when our hour is up. At least not without force and that isn't an option. Ok, I want you to arrange for there to be a medic here if we need them, but out of sight. We aren't going to get to them in time, and I agree, Will probably is going to be the one. I don't care what Strauss says, this guy isn't surviving to go to trial."

He turned and went back to the conference room leaving Emily to make calls.

**Back in the Basement…**

"It's going to be me," Penelope said in a muted voice.

When Will started to protest, Pen stopped him. "That is the right choice Will. You have a ton of family. Mother, father, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins and you also have a wife, son and baby on the way. There is no way I will let it be you. I know what it feels like to lose family because I lost mine. With the exception of the team, I have no family. I know it will hurt them and they will be really sad, but if we lost you it would break J.J. and would prove to all the others that you can't have love and do our job. They need to have love in their lives to do their job. That's why it has to be me." She was panting by the time she was done due to the exertion on her body.

"You have it all wrong, cher." Will was still stroking her hair. "You _are_ their love, in so many ways. You make them smile when they want to cry, or rage. You remind them every day of why they continue to fight evil. You are the kind of person they strive to save. Then they come home and you are always there to greet them, with a tin of cookies or a cute toy. You erase the images and thoughts that dirty their mind. Now, imagine if they stepped off that elevator and you weren't there to greet them…ever again. _That_ would break them, all of them."

Pen interrupted, "Derek maybe, and I doubt that, but I can't see any of them walking away from it; that would dishonor me. Hotch and Emily know how to deal with their emotions and would be able to focus on work and move on. And if Hotch ever pulls his head out, he and Emily can lean on each other. Rossi has seen too much for this to faze him much. Reid would be upset because another person left him, but he got over Gideon; he can get over me. J.J. I could see walking away, but more to protect her children than because of my death. They all have each other to turn to."

Will moved his hand from her head, down to where her hand was laying. He hovered over it and waited for her to reach her hand up so he could clasp it. He needed her to calm down and arguing about who was going to die was not going to accomplish that. He had already made his decision and nothing was going to change his mind. He was going to make sure that Jack, Henry and his son's fairy godmother survived, even if that meant sacrificing his own life.

Will started telling Penelope about his favorite memories of J.J. and with the team. He wanted his wife to know how grateful he was for her and knew Pen would eventually tell her what he had said.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: I keep forgetting to add this note. The song in chapter 10 was Jerrod Niemann's: **_**They should have named you cocaine**_**. Thanks for all the reviews, I appreciate all the feedback. You guys get to reap the benefits of my three-day, responsibility- free weekend. I was able to get the story written completely written out and now it's just a matter of typing it up and posting. This is my third chapter to post today and there might be one more tonight before bed. And there will definitely be more tomorrow. **

**Things are about to get crazy…hold on it's going to get bumpy.**

**I own nothing.**

Pen and Will were talking about how great his and J.J.'s wedding had been when Bob came back in followed by Thing 1 and 2. "Now my friends, do not tell me your choice just yet. Let the BAU hear it too."

He once again turned the camera on and opened the laptop. He pulled his phone out to make another taunting call. "Hello Spencer. It is time for you to join us again." He disconnected the phone and put it in the pocket of his khaki-colored slacks. With the exception of the ski mask that he always wore on camera, he looked ready for a business meeting, not murder.

Pen still hadn't moved and that was fine with Bob, he wanted her right where she was. He moved towards them and squatted next to Will with his back on the wall. He was much too close; it was like he was trying to be a friend.

"Ok, my pets. Did you decide who wins?"

Will's other hand snaked out and quickly covered Penelope's mouth. "Yes, it's me. I get the bullet." Pen started thrashing and Will used his arm to hold her in place. She was screaming under his hand.

"Doesn't sound like she agrees," Bob said.

"Tough, I'm stronger than her right now, so I get to make the decision." Will told him defiantly.

"You know what?" Bob asked him smiling. "I was going to choose you anyway because we can have so much more fun with Pretty Penny than with you."

He turned to Thing 1 and handed him his gun. He whispered something to his goon, but nobody could hear what it was. Bob turned back to the team. J.J. had tears streaming down her face and was holding the edge of the table. Bob smiled at her, "Say goodbye to your husband."

Will had just moved his hand from Penelope's mouth to her eyes when the gunshot rang out. He felt a blinding pain, heard Penelope and wife screaming faintly and then nothing.

Bob quickly turned the camera and laptop off. Thing 1 handed him back his gun and he and Thing 2 moved towards Will. After unlocking his chains, they each grabbed a leg and started to drag him away. Penelope was still screaming and was holding tightly to Will. His hands had fallen off of her but she kept her eyes closed. She knew she didn't want to see the blood she could feel running down her face.

Bob walked over to her and wrapped his hand in her hair. He pulled her up and off of Will and slapped her across the face. "Shut up Bitch! Your precious team is getting exactly what they deserve." He raised his hand to slap her again but stopped when the basement door was flung open.

His man was standing there, bleeding from a head wound. "Damn kid knocked me out, he took my cell phone and they went out the window. We got to get out of here."

Bob looked at Thing 1 and 2, "Go find the kids. If you cannot find them in three minutes, get back here." He pointed at the man on the stairs. "You, come down here." He pointed to a spot on the floor a few feet from where he stood, still holding Pen by her hair.

When the man had joined them Bob asked, "Did I tell you not to bring a cell phone?" Bob nodded at him as if answering his own question. "I said no one but me could have a cell phone or gun just so this would not happen. So now this happens…"

He raised his gun and shot the man in the stomach before he could turn to run. Penelope whimpered when the man fell in front of her but otherwise remained quiet.

"This is what happens when you disobey me, Penelope. Remember this lesson well. Get up and come on." He dragged her to her feet and pushed her to the stairs. She stumbled and he kept her upright by his grip in her hair.

They made it up the stairs where Thing 1 and 2 were running back in through the front door.

Thing 2 said, "They got to another house and they are already on the phone, we gotta get outta here."

"You are right. WE do." He brought his gun up once more and shot another of his goon squad. "James you are driving. We need to move, NOW!"

James grabbed Pen's arm and between the two men they dragged her into the garage. Bob threw her in the backseat of what she thought was a KIA Sportage. He climbed in after her and James started the car.

**In the conference room…**

Right after Will was shot and the camera shut off J.J. hit her knees. Emily and Spencer went over to her. Emily got down on her knees as well and pulled the sobbing blond into her embrace.

Kevin was the first to break the silence. "Wow, I'm kinda glad Penny turned down my proposal. You guys can't seem to keep spouses alive."

Every jaw in the room dropped, but Kevin's broke when Derek's fist slammed into the side of his face. Strauss jumped in between them quickly, "Mr. Lynch! My office, immediately!" She pointed to the door and Kevin knew better than to argue. As he picked himself up off the floor and was leaving the room he heard Hotch say, "Erin, I better **never** see his face again"

Hotch's phone started to ring and he almost didn't pull it out. He didn't think he could handle anymore. He dug for a little more strength and answered his phone. "Agent Hotchner".

He was not prepared to hear his son's voice come through the speaker, "Dad? Come get us, please."

When Hotch almost yelled, "Jack, where are you?" he got everyone's attention. All movement and sound stopped around him and everyone watched him.

"We got away dad, Henry and I went through the window after I knocked the guy out who was watching us. We ran to a neighbor's house and they called 911, the cops are on their way, but I want you to come get us. Dad, I heard Aunt Pen screaming and when we were running I think I heard another gunshot. I don't know what happened but Aunt Pen and Uncle Will were already really hurt." Jack was frantic and Hotch quickly tried to get his focus back.

"Jack…Buddy, I need you to breath and tell me where you are. If you can, give the phone to one of the adults." As he was talking Hotch was walking out the door, his team falling in behind him. Even J.J. had pulled herself together and was following.

Hotch got the address from the homeowner where the boys were and thanked him for his assistance but had to disconnect the call as another was beeping in. By this time they had reached their vehicles. Hotch got in the front passenger seat and punched the address into the GPS as he answered the other call.

"Agent Hotchner"

"Agent Hotchner, this is Sergeant Tipps with the Fredericksburg police. We have a situation we need your assistance with. We got a 911 call from someone saying two boys had been kidnapped and had been held in another home near theirs. When we approached the scene an SUV was leaving said house. We surrounded it. The man in the backseat shot the driver and is using a woman that has obviously been beaten as a shield. He has told us that he will only talk to you."

"Thank you for calling Sergeant, hang back, we are already on our way. We should be there in about 15 minutes." Hotch told him.

"How are you already on the way?" The police officer asked him.

"One of the kidnapped boys is my son. I want somebody with him until I can get there, please."

The policeman assured him it was already done; they discussed strategy for a few minutes and then disconnected.

Hotch filled Dave and J.J. in on what had occurred as they strapped on their vests and earpieces. Rossi was driving their vehicle like a speed demon with Morgan and Prentiss and Reid in the vehicle on their bumper.


	13. Chapter 13

_**AN: This chapter has a sexual assault in it, and lots of cussing. Stop reading now if either of these offends you. It's time for Bob to get his. But this rollercoaster isn't over yet. **_

Bob pulled Penelope close to him as James raised the garage door and peeled out onto the street. He didn't make it a block down the road before they were surrounded by cop cars. James brought the car to a screeching halt and raised his hands.

"You failed me too, James." Once again, Bob raised his gun and put a bullet in the back of James' head. He grabbed Penelope and forced her to straddle him. "This way there is no way they can shoot me without hitting you." He was right; front, back or side, any bullet would go through both of them.

Bob ducked his head a little and tucked it into the crook of Pen's neck. She tried to brace herself on the back of the seat but couldn't put any weight on her left arm. She was determined not to be pressed against him, so she used her right arm to hold her off of her captor. Her ears were still ringing from the gun going off so close to her but she could hear the police officers outside yelling at them to put their hands up.

Penelope raised her hands the best she could so they could see she didn't have a weapon. If she had known just how bad she looked she wouldn't have bothered there is no way any law-enforcement officer would believe she wanted to be there.

Bob used a finger to roll the window down a little. "I will only speak to Aaron Hotchner of the FBI's BAU. Get me Aaron Hotchner or I will put a bullet in this bitch!"

He rolled the window back up. "Pretentious Penny, it is just me and you now. How should we occupy our time until your team is here? You know they are probably already on their way. That brat Jack has already called his daddy. Damn kid, I should have known better than to be nice to him."

Bob ran his hand not holding the gun up Penelope's side, brushing her breast and causing her to jump. "Be still Penelope, we would not want anyone thinking they have a shot and hit you, now would we? But I do think I have found a way to stay entertained until the gang arrives. You must remain still."

He heard a cop on a bullhorn say that Aaron Hotchner would be there in 15 minutes and he chuckled, "Guess I will have to be quick then." He slipped his right hand in between them and undid his pants. Penelope started to pull back but he stopped her. He pulled a switch blade from his pocket and flicked it open. "If you move again, Shiny Penny, I will stab you in places that can never be fixed. I am getting laid again before I die."

Knowing he had accepted his death made Penelope even more scared. She couldn't do anything as he pushed into her. Her panties had been destroyed earlier so there was no barrier between them. She kneeled over him crying, hoping the people outside the vehicle could not see what was being done to her.

Outside the car, the police had formed a circle around the vehicle and were standing behind their open car doors for protection. One of the female officers ran up to Sergeant Tipps as he ended a phone call. "Sarge, we have to something now, he's raping her in front of all of us. "

When Sergeant Tipps turned he could see the vehicle rocking slightly and the severely beaten blonde being shoved up and down. She had tears running down her face and he would have given his left arm to get her out right then, but he couldn't.

"Agent Hotchner told us to wait; this is an ongoing case of theirs. If we move in that woman will die."

The young officer shook her head in disgust and moved back to her partner. About the time the vehicle stopped moving they heard the sound of sirens growing closer. They waited anxiously until they saw two black SUV's come screaming around the corner.

Bob pushed Pen up off of him and tucked himself back in his pants. He patted her ass and said, "Thanks for the last ride. It was not everything I wanted it to be, but it did the job. Ah look, perfect timing, our friends have arrived. It is time for our last game Penelope, are you ready?"

When there was no reply he laughed again and said, "It does not really matter if you are ready or not, it is going to happen." He picked up his phone and made one more call.

"Hello Aaron, so glad you could join us. Was not quite how I pictured the end game but this shall suffice."

Penelope was so close and it was so quiet she could hear Hotch on the other end. "No Nathan, I wouldn't imagine you wanted it to end like this either. How about you step out of the car and you and I can finish this. Just like you and I started it."

Nathan snickered and said, "It took seeing me without a mask on to figure out who I was. Face it Aaron, if those boys had not gotten away, we would not be here right now. That is because I am smarter than you. I was exactly what you needed and you brushed me aside."

"Because I could see the crazy you were hiding in the 15 minutes we spent together. Why do you think they did that spur of the moment Psyche eval?" Hotch told him.

Nathan sputtered, turned red and then went completely still. This frightened Pen more than if he had gone into a rage. She was afraid her arm wouldn't support herself for much longer. She didn't want to be any closer to him than she already was. The heater was still on and it was really hot in the car. It smelled like sweat, pain and fear. She just wanted to go home, go to bed and forget all of this.

"Nathan, are you still there?" Hotch's question broke the silence.

"Of course, Aaron, but I am done talking to you. Give me 7 minutes and call back. Then I will send you back your girl. 7 minutes Aaron, not 6. If you jump the gun you will be searching for a new technical analyst."

He waited for Hotch to agree. "Fine, 7 minutes, starting now," and for the first time in their entire call history, Hotch hung up first.

Bob wanted to throw the phone but knew he would need it again. "Ok, Pensive Penny, here is your last choice. Option A is I aim my gun out the window and take out as many of your teammates as I can before the cops riddle the car, and both of us in it, with bullets. Option B is you let me jab you somewhere with this knife and then I will blow my own brains out. There is a 50/50 shot I will not hit anything fatal. Those are better odds than the first scenario. Which do you prefer my sweet?"

Pen pulled back to look at him but he pushed the knife into her side; she felt a trickle of blood mix with swear, and she remembered to be still. "Are you fucking kidding me?" She was beyond mad at this point, she was livid. "I hate you. You are the most evil person I have ever come across and there have been many."

Nathan stopped her saying, "Penelope what are you doing? Are you trying to piss me off?"

"I don't really care." She replied with frustration and exhaustion in her voice. "I just figured it doesn't matter what I choose because you already know what you are gonna do. I also only have a couple of minutes before Hotch calls back. I would like to spend the possibly last few minutes of my life telling you what a sorry sack of shit you are instead of hearing you prattle on about something stupid. Did you ever think about looking in the mirror when you were looking for somebody to blame, asshole? Of course not because you are a selfish, arrogant, ugly prick that gets off hurting other people. "

The phone rang at exactly 7 minutes, cutting off Penelope's rant. There was no greeting on either end. Nathan broke the silence first. "So Penelope, what is your choice? Option A or Option B?"

"How about neither." With speed even Penelope didn't know she had, she pulled her head back and rammed the top of it into his face. Everything suddenly felt like it was happening in slow motion to Pen. She felt the bones in his face crunch, and she felt the knife push deeper into her body. She threw herself backwards, towards the driver's chair. She felt her lung split open when his knife hit it and she gasped for air.

As she hit the back of the seat a shot rang out in the air and the right side of Nathan's head blew away and shattered glass was falling on her.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Sorry for such a long delay in updates, life's been crazy. You won't have to wait so long for the next chapter…I promise. Thanks again for all the reviews, alerts and favorites. You guys truly make it enjoyable to write when I knew someone is looking forward to reading it. Just a little shout out…One of the first authors (and one of my favorites) that I read when I joined Fan Fiction added my story to alerts and I almost peed my pants. Thanks KLCM, knowing that you liked this story enough to follow it made my day!**

The door opened and Derek was there. Penelope just looked at him. It was so hard to breathe that she couldn't even attempt to talk. She saw Derek's arm come out and hesitate before wrapping around her waist. He grasped her hip and put his head under her arm so it rested on his shoulder. When he lifted her off of Nathan she saw stars. Her head dropped to Derek's chest as he pulled her from the car. She heard him yelling for a medic, but it was all muffled, like she was underwater.

Her left arm fell backwards when he laid her on the gurney and she wanted to howl in pain but could only make the most pitiful of sounds. Derek got her situated on her right side and stepped back so the paramedics could do their job. When he left her side, Penelope started to panic. She tried to pull the oxygen mask off her face and sit up but strong hands held her down.

"Dere..." she managed to gasp out. In the next instant he was by her legs, holding her unbroken hand. She dimly heard someone call for Careflight and realized she was hurt really bad. She squeezed Derek's hand and when he made eye contact she mouthed 'I love you'.

"Don't do that," he commanded her. "No goodbyes. We are getting on the chopper and you are going to be fine. I'm going with you and I'm gonna hold your hand the entire time." As they loaded her on the helicopter she was jostled and the pain was so immense that she blacked out.

When she woke up, she was still on the gurney, but there were a bunch of people all around her yelling and running while they pushed her. All she could think was Grey's Anatomy sure made it realistic when they did these kinds of scenes. The lights were too bright and hurt her eyes so she closed them to the chaos around her.

**Back at the scene…**

Hotch had known the minute he saw the man exactly who he was and it made his blood boil. They had been looking in the wrong direction and they had lost Will and might lose Penelope as well. He had felt no remorse when he fired the bullet that ended Nathan Grannan's life. He only felt a slight pang that it was so quick. His pain had ended, but nobody else's had.

As he and the rest of the team watched Derek pull her out of the car, they could see the switchblade sticking out of her left side. They heard her cry out when her arm fell back, aggravating her obviously dislocated shoulder. She was covered in blood and bruises. When Hotch saw the bruises around her ankles he wanted to bring Nathan back to life…just so he could kill him again.

He heard the call go out for Careflight and felt Emily take his hand. He looked up from where he had been staring at Penelope and saw the whole team had gathered around, and they all looked as angry and lost as he felt. They stood and watched as the helicopter lifted off and Hotch felt the spell they were all under break. They had to watch their friend while she was there. Now they just wanted to get to the hospital.

Hotch told Emily, Rossi and Spencer to head to the hospital and that he and J.J. were going to get Jack and Henry and meet them there. When the others had left, J.J. told him there was something she had to do first and turned to the house her husband died in. Hotch took her hand, determined to not let her go in alone and followed her into the house.

**At the hospital…**

Derek paced the waiting room. It had been an hour since he had been separated from Penelope and he hadn't been able to get anyone to give him an update. The only thing that kept him from climbing the walls, was knowing that that at least meant she was still alive. The damage that was done to his girl was terrifying to him. There was so much blood on her and he didn't know how much of it was hers. She was so weak when she called his name it tore at his heart. He knew her lung had been punctured, he could hear it in every tortured breath she took. The ride in the helicopter had been the most nerve-wracking experience of his life. When she passed out his heart had stopped for a moment.

While the paramedics had done their thing, Derek catalogued every injury he could see. The hand shaped bruises all over her legs made him see red. He wished again that Hotch hadn't killed him, that he had gotten to be the one to end the bastard's life. He knew Penelope was in for a long recovery with just her physical injuries. He couldn't even begin to think about how emotionally traumatized she would be.

As he made his hundredth circuit around the floor Rossi, Emily and Spencer walked in. They asked if there was any news. Upon hearing the frustration in Derek's voice when he gave a negative reply, Dave decided to go throw his weight around to get an update. Running on nothing but caffeine and pure adrenaline, Derek continued to pace. Emily and Reid sat down next to each other and watched him. Rossi came back and told them someone would be out to speak with them shortly.

Shortly turned into an hour and found Derek at the nurses' station, demanding an update. When they realized he wasn't going to be placated this time and he wasn't going away, one of the nurses went to find a doctor. When the nurse came back she handed a phone to Derek and pressed a couple of buttons.

The phone rang and then he heard, "Hello, is this Agent Morgan?" Derek could hear beeping and murmurs of other people and knew he was talking to the surgeon as he did his job.

He said yes and the voice replied, "My name is Doctor Axtell and I'm doing my very best to save your friend. Right now we are stable, but critical. There is a lot of damage to her lung and surrounding tissue and I cannot walk away just yet. But I promise, as soon as I or one of my colleagues can, we will be out to fill you in on what's going on."

"Doc, is she gonna make it?" Derek asked, his voice breaking at the end.

Dr. Axtell replied in the same calm voice that he started with, "It's too early for me to say. I'm sorry; I wish I had better news for you right now. If I can get this bleeding under control and her lung reinflated there will be much more positive news."

"Ok, thanks Doc." He paused and then added, "You hang in there Baby Girl. We are all waiting for you." Derek handed the phone back to the nurse. Not really feeling any better, he headed back to the waiting room to tell the others.

When he got there he saw that Hotch and J.J. had arrived with Jack and Henry. Henry was asleep on J.J. and Jack was sitting quietly next to his dad, whose arm was around his shoulder. There was a weird vibe around the room, it was almost happy. Derek scanned the faces of his friends, silently asking what was going on.

J.J. looked at him with tears in her eyes and said, "Will's alive."


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: When I first plotted this story out, started typing it up and titled it I intended for Will to die. It made for really good angst in later chapters. However, after watching the season finale and seeing everything that he went through to get back to his family, I just couldn't kill him. I guess I am a softie. I haven't decided if I want to change the title or just incorporate it somehow into the story (without killing anyone)…any suggestions? Oh yea, this will have a happy ending…just not any time soon. **

"Will is what?" Derek stuttered.

"He's alive," J.J. repeated. "The bullet went through his upper right chest. He lost a lot of blood but the doctors think he will make it."

"J.J. that's great." Even though Derek truly meant it, his voice lacked the enthusiasm to be believable.

"Any news on Pen?" J.J. asked

"Not really. Doctor said he needed to stop the bleeding and re-inflate her lung before he could begin to say whether she would live. I figure we're going to be here for a while." He didn't want to be alone but he knew that the others desperately needed food…and sleep.

"I'm not going anywhere," J.J. said. "Will's sister is coming to get Henry and he's going home with her. Come on Derek; let's find the closest coffee vendor, probably going to visit them often." She stood up and placed Henry on Reid's lap. She then latched onto Derek's arm and pulled him out of the room.

Hotch turned to the others, "I'm going to take Jack home." When Jack protested Hotch continued, "There is nothing we can do here. If something happens they will call us and we will come back. The next few hours are just going to be a waiting game and we can do that just as well at home."

Hotch turned to the three left in the room, "Please keep us updated." They all knew he needed to get Jack out of there; the young man was close to cracking. Spencer, Emily and Dave all assured him that they would be the one to call him if something changed. Hotch chuckled and told them just one call would suffice. Hotch placed his hand on Jack's shoulder and guided his son out of the room.

When J.J. and Derek returned with coffee for everyone, Henry was still asleep and Will's sister, Melanie, had shown up. J.J. gave her the latest update on her brother and a promise to call when he was out of surgery. After Melanie left with Henry, the five just sat in silence.

Reid was first to disrupt the quiet," How do we help her? What is the right thing to do or say around her?"

"Don't walk on eggshells, that's the worst thing you can do." Emily told him. "She won't want to be treated different just because of what happened."

"She's going to be fine" Derek said firmly. "Even at the end, he didn't break her. I would love to know what she was saying to him, because she looked pissed. When she head butted him I knew she was going to be ok."

"That was crazy," J.J. said. "I could not believe she did that. I was so proud of her."

They were all smiling at the thought of Penelope refusing to play Nathan's game and breaking bones in his face. She had given Hotch the opportunity to end the situation with her actions. They all knew Hotch was feeling guilty for not ending it before Penelope was stabbed.

"Our tech kitten will come through this," Rossi told Reid. "She may try to push us away, we just can't let her. She needs our support without being too pushy or overwhelming. We just have to break our 'no inter-profiling' rule and pay attention to what she isn't telling us and stay a step ahead of her."

"Ok, so how did Hotch know who this guy was?" Derek asked

"I don't know," J.J. said. "He started to tell me on the way over here but he didn't want to discuss it in front of Jack. He told me that he's going to have Jessica come over in the morning and he will fill us all in on it."

"How did you find out that Will was alive?" Emily asked.

"I was going to go see him before I went to get Henry. When I got in the house he wasn't anywhere to be found. Hotch stopped an officer and was told that two men with gunshots were taken to the hospital. One of them was one of the goons and the other was Will. Apparently Nathan decided to clean up after himself and had killed, or tried to kill, all of his employees."

A doctor came into the waiting room, getting all of their attention. Derek stood up but when the doctor called Will's name he flopped back into a chair. J.J. jumped up and moved towards him.

"Ma'am, your husband is going to be just fine. The bullet didn't hit anything vital but he did lose quite a bit of blood. He will be weak for a while but he shouldn't expect any serious complications. You are welcome to see him if you would like."

J.J. agreed and told the others to come get her as soon as they heard anything about Penelope. The four remaining continued to sit there. Reid had finished his coffee and grabbed the one Derek had bought for Hotch not knowing he was leaving. Derek got back up and paced the perimeter of the waiting room. Emily had fallen asleep in her chair and Rossi wasn't far from it. Spencer wandered over to where Derek was wearing out the floor and wished he could do something to ease his friend's anxiety.

J.J. had been back for an hour, leaving Will to sleep and Derek was still pacing. He had too much adrenaline to sit down. He couldn't relax until he knew Penelope would be ok. He was just about ready to go harass the nurses again when a doctor stepped into their room.

"Penelope Garcia?"

Derek moved towards him as the others stood up and gathered around the doctor that Derek had spoken to on the phone.

"She made it through surgery and barring any unforeseen complications should be home in a week or so. However, she is in for a long, painful recovery. Beyond the punctured lung she also had a dislocated shoulder, broken wrist and finger, several busted ribs, cuts and abrasions all over her body, a concussion and sexual trauma. It looks as if she were raped repeatedly and there was internal tearing and bleeding that we will have to keep an eye on. We've given her the HIV cocktail but she will still need to be tested 1 month, 6 months and 12 months out for HIV or any other STD's. We can give her an injection of the Morning-after pill equivalent, but we didn't want to do that without asking if she would want that. Should we give that to her?"

When they all nodded Dr. Axtell sighed and continued. "All of these injuries are going to cause her pain for quite a while but I fear the psychological damage is going to be the worst. I recommend you get her into therapy as soon as possible. We will have someone stop by and talk to her as soon as she is up for it. We have her situated in ICU for the night on a ventilator. When she wakes up tomorrow, if she can breathe without the ventilator, we will move her into a private room. For now I can let you guys in for a moment to see her, but only a moment, visiting hours were over long ago."

When they all nodded eagerly he said, "You need to prepare yourselves, though, it is very disconcerting to see a loved one in the condition Miss Garcia is in." When everyone just stared at him, waiting, he turned and led them to the ICU.

The ICU was a large square room with a big nurses' station claiming the middle surrounded by curtained off areas with patients. Derek understood the logistics of having all the patients close by, but the air in the room was thick with despair and illness.

"Just for a moment," Dr. Axtell murmured once again as he led them to a curtain in the middle of one wall. He turned and left them to their friend and headed to the nurses' station. Derek pulled the curtain open enough for them to step through. They filed in around Pen's bed and Rossi pulled the curtain closed behind them.

"Baby Girl," Derek whispered gently as he grabbed her right hand. She had tubes and wires coming off of her everywhere. But the one that disturbed Derek the most was the tube between her too-pale lips, helping her breathe. Her pale skin was marred by bruises and Derek was angry all over again at how hurt she really was.

J.J. leaned over and kissed Penelope softly on her forehead. "It's ok Garcie, you and Will and the boys, you all came back to us. You sleep and get better. You probably need a lot of rest after being such a bad-ass. We can wait until you're ready."

"Yea, just don't keep us waiting too long, P.G. We can't keep your hot-headed protector in line for long, you're the only one that can do that." Emily chimed in, winking at Derek when he nodded at her.

"Don't forget Garcia, you owe me. I expect you to be fully functional when the next Doctor Who convention gets here." Reid told Penelope, not making eye contact with any of the others.

Shaking his head and smirking, Rossi said, "Hear that Kitten? You wouldn't want to let your boy wonder or any of the rest of us down. You never have before, so don't start now. You keep those pretty eyes closed until you feel better and when you're ready, I will help you commit cyber vengeance on anyone you want." He patted her foot and looked up when the curtain parted.

They saw the doctor poke his head in and knew their time was up. As they left Penelope's side J.J. told the doctor that she would be in her husband's room and if anything should happen to let her know. Derek said he would also be staying, but he would be in the waiting room.

"You should really go home and get some rest. She will not be awake until tomorrow." Dr. Axtell told Derek.

"I know, but I won't get any sleep at home. I need to be close to her." Was Derek's only reply.

When they exited the ICU they went their separate agreeing to meet back in the waiting room in the morning if there was no change before then.


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Having issues re-writing these next few chapters with Will not dying. I am trying to tie up all the loose ends without making it drag too long. If I miss a loose end, give me a heads up so I can fix it. We still have drama coming up…I just have to get there first**

Derek had just sat down in one of the hard chairs in the waiting room when he saw the doctor coming towards him. Panicking, he jumped up and closed the distance rapidly. "What's wrong?" He said quickly.

"Nothing's wrong." Dr. Axtell said trying to calm the agitated man. "If you are truly going to spend the night, you might as well be somewhere close and comfortable. I imagine you haven't slept in quite awhile. Follow me."

Derek followed the man to a door right inside the ICU. "This is the room for on-call doctors to sleep in. Seeing as I won't be using it, you should."

"Thanks doc, I really appreciate it." Derek shook the man's hand and thanked him again for saving Penelope's life. He went into the room and sat on the edge of the surprisingly comfortable bunk bed. He slipped his boots off and stretched out on the bed. His head hit the pillow and sleep easily claimed him. As he drifted off his last thought was of that hospital show that Pen made him watch and he wondered if this room was used more for sleeping or for doctors getting it on.

**CMCMCMCM**

When Hotch arrived at the hospital the next morning he went straight to the ICU waiting room. Seeing no one he knew, he went to the nurses' station for an update. One of the nurses told him that Penelope had made it through the night and was stable. When she hesitated and looked flustered he asked her, "What aren't you telling me?"

"Well, umm…" the nurse fidgeted for a moment before saying, "The hot guy that came in with her?" When Hotch nodded she continued, "He's asleep in the on-call room. We tried to wake him up when visiting hours started, but he pulled his gun and told us to go away. Doctor Axtell said we should just leave him be until someone arrived that knew him."

Hotch managed to refrain from smiling at the frightened nurse. "I will get him out of your hair. Just point me in the right direction."

The nurse showed him the on-call room and quickly scurried away. Hotch opened the door and in his best work voice said, "Morgan, wake up."

Derek was up and instantly alert. "What's wrong Hotch? Is Pen ok?"

"Penelope is stable," Hotch said before Morgan got really worked up. "However, you apparently are not. Do you remember pulling your gun on a nurse?" He already knew the answer when he saw the look of confusion on Derek's face. "When did I do this?" He asked.

"They said they tried to wake you when visiting hours started at seven, so three hours ago."

Derek sighed and started pulling his boots on. "Show me who I need to apologize to when we get out of here. I want to see Pen and then I need a giant cup of coffee."

"You also need food," Hotch told him. "Everybody else should be here soon and I can fill everyone in on what happened over breakfast. I'm sure J.J. hasn't thought about eating either."

"She left about an hour after I came in here, which was about 3am. She needed to be with Henry and woke me up to let me know." Derek replied grumpily. " And then every time the alarms went off for someone, I would panic and get up to make sure it wasn't for Pen. I probably would have gotten more sleep out in the waiting room, but I wanted to be as close to her as they would allow."

Hotch laid a hand on his shoulder, "Penelope will be fine. We will all get past this together."

As they left the on-call room Derek made sure to apologize to the nurse he scared. She blushed and stammered her acceptance and rushed off to her patients. They stepped into Penelope's area and once again, Derek took her hand. "Good morning Baby Girl. If you were to open those beautiful eyes you would give me the greatest morning ever."

Hotch hung back a little, still trying to take in all that was wrong with the woman that had wormed her way into everyone's heart. She was too quiet, too still and was lacking her usual bright colors and Hotch found himself unnerved. He wished he had the power to snap his fingers and make everything right again. Since he didn't have that ability he decided he would make sure Derek took care of himself. It was the least he could do for Penelope, watch over her interests until she was able to do so herself.

"Garcia, everybody is ok, even Will. Now you need to get better and come back to us, and yes, that is an order from your boss man." Hotch told Penelope, lightly rubbing her lower leg.

Derek smiled softly, "Hear that Baby Girl? Just like I said, a drill Sergeant."

"Yes I am, and now I'm going to make your Hot Stuff go get something to eat before he collapses. We will be back Garcia, and it would be nice if you were awake for it." Hotch stepped out of the curtain cubicle to give Derek a moment alone with her.

When Derek emerged, Hotch knew that he didn't want to leave her side and it would be a challenge to get him to stay away long. But he needed to eat and he was in desperate need of a shower. Hotch told the nurses they were going to the cafeteria and to call or page them if anything changed and led Derek out of the ICU.

When they passed by the waiting room they saw that Rossi, Reid, J.J. and Prentiss were all there.

"They told us you were in with her so we were just waiting on you to come out." Rossi informed them.

"How's she doing?" Reid asked.

"She's stable, the doctor thinks she will wake up in a few hours and when she does they will take the tube out and move her to a private room." Derek told them.

"At least we won't have to take turns going into see her," Emily said

"Hey maybe we can get them to put her in the same room as Will," J.J. exclaimed. "I want to go see her now so I can give Will the update he wants."

"He's awake?" Derek asked.

"Yea, and already trying to do more than he should. If Henry hadn't been sitting on his legs he would have been trying to get down here himself."

"How is Henry?" Hotch asked.

"He had nightmares on and off last night. I'm glad I went to Melanie's because he needed me and I needed him. I shouldn't have sent him off with someone else, Will would have understood if I wasn't there."

"Jayje, stop that. You needed to know that your husband and best friend were going to survive before you could offer anyone else comfort." Emily told her. "As soon as you confirmed both you went to your son; you did nothing wrong."

Trying to change the subject before she started crying, J.J. looked at Hotch, "How is Jack? He understood what was going on way better than Henry."

"It's going to be a long road to being ok again for Jack. We all need to talk and we need coffee and food." Hotch told them as they walked down the hallway. He had started moving and the rest had unconsciously followed him. " He told me everything that happened. He feels like he should have done more. Even though he knows he couldn't have stopped them; he feels that since he and Henry were left untied they should have escaped sooner."

When they reached the cafeteria Derek and Reid headed for coffee, Hotch moved to get Derek food and the others claimed a table. They sat there silently until Derek, Reid and Hotch returned. Derek protested the food until Hotch said, "I told Garcia I was going to make you eat. Don't make a liar out of me or she will ruin both of our credit scores."

Derek chuckled and picked up the fork. Hotch waited a moment, gathering his thoughts and then began. "Jack and Henry were spared from seeing the worst. They were upstairs for the beating we saw and for the shooting. They were in the basement with Will when Garcia was taken upstairs to use the bathroom. He said they heard her screaming but they couldn't do anything to help her. They heard a gunshot and didn't know if it was her that was shot until she was brought back down. She wouldn't talk when they came back and then Jack and Henry were brought back upstairs. I'm assuming he shot one of his hired hands because there was only one guy guarding the boys when Will was shot instead of the two that were with them on our first video call. That's why they were able to escape. Jack smashed a vase over his head and they ran."

They all sat there, trying to absorb what Hotch had just told them. "Aaron, who was it?" David asked.

"His name was Nathan Grannan and he applied for Emily's job when she…when it was vacant. He had worked in the White Collar division before then."

"Wait, the guy that did all of this worked for the FBI? How is that possible? How did he pass the psyche evals?" Derek asked angrily.

"White Collar doesn't have them as often as we do, maybe once every couple of years for them. However, when he came in for the interview, I knew he was…" Hotch paused, searching for the right word. "Off…hiding something. I told Strauss and she got his Unit Chief to do a psyche eval early. Which he failed, and ended up losing his job. Anderson talked to his ex-wife this morning and she said she couldn't handle him after he was fired and divorced him, took the kids, and moved to her mother's in Montana. She said he didn't do anything but talk about how the FBI would rue the day they let him go and he would prove that he was exactly what the 'snooty snobs' in the BAU needed. She said that she was afraid that it was only a matter of time before he turned violent towards them. Emily coming back was his last straw. There are pictures of all of us dating back to then in his house. He has been following us for almost a year."


	17. Chapter 17

_**AN: Very Derek-centered chapter, will definitely have more Garcia in the next chapter. Just want to say again, I am not planning on killing anyone. I have a poll (at least I think I did it right) on my profile for what I should change the title to, go vote and help me out. I would also like to ask for your help on something else. I got my first bad review and it really stings. I posted a crossover story and was pretty much told it sucked by an anonymous reviewer. Please read it and tell me if it truly does, I would hate to have less then my best on here. It is Wiccans, Techies and Lies don't mix. Thanks to EVERYONE that has reviewed on this story. It makes me feel a lot better. **_

Derek stood up and left the table abruptly. It was too much to process on too little sleep. His emotions were too close to the surface and he was afraid he would say something he couldn't take back. He knew it wasn't Hotch's fault, but right now he needed someone or something to blame and Hotch made an easy target. He needed air. He needed a punching bag. He would settle for holding his Baby Girl's hand, so he made his way back to the ICU.

When he got there he found a bustle of activity around Penelope's bed. "What's going on?" he asked one of the nurses coming out of the curtained area. "Miss Garcia is awake. The doctor is testing her breathing and if it's at an acceptable level, he will remove the ventilator. If her breathing stays steady for an hour he will move her to a private room. You won't be allowed to see her until then."

The young nurse paused, crinkled her nose and then said, "I mean no offense by this, but you should really go home and take a shower in the mean time. Otherwise your girl will smell you before she sees you."

Derek gave a bark of laughter. He wasn't mad, hell; he'd been in these clothes since Saturday morning, more than 48 hours ago. If he smelled anything like he felt, he knew it was bad. "Will you please let the others know about Penelope and tell them I will be back as soon as I don't smell like a city dump?"

When the nurse consented he headed for the nearest exit. He got all the way out of the hospital when he realized he would have to call a cab. He wanted to bang his head against the wall and curse the fates that he would have to waste time waiting for a cab to pick him up and take him to the Bureau where his car was.

He pulled out his phone and started to dial the number when he saw Rossi approach him. "Figured you'd be out here. Come on, I'll give you a ride to your house and on the way back we'll stop and get your car."

"Thanks, man. I so did not want to wait on a cab," said Derek as he followed Rossi to where he had parked.

After having his first shower in 3 days, Derek almost felt human again. He quickly dressed and packed a new bag, he knew he would be at the hospital for a while. All the clothes from his go-bag were dirty because they had gone straight to the office after getting home from the last case.

Rossi waited until they were back in the car to try and talk to him. "Derek, you know this isn't any of our fault, right?"

"I know, that's why I walked away. It was too much to absorb at once and I didn't want to say something I would not mean and then regret it. I know we should all feel lucky or blessed that we got everyone back and they will be alright, but did we really? Henry may not understand what happened but Jack sure the hell did. Will he recover from this? Will Hotch? Once again his job threatened his family. He's a great boss and I don't want him to leave, but I would understand and not blame him at all if he was to walk away." Derek paused and looked out the window.

Rossi knew he wasn't done yet and remained silent and waited for him to get to what was really bothering him.

"Will J.J. be able to put this behind her? Her son and husband were kidnapped and Will was shot and almost died. And then there's Penelope. I can't imagine she will ever be ok. Don't get me wrong, Penelope is a strong woman and she has overcome a lot, but this? Did you know that asshole raped her while they were in the car waiting on us?"

When Rossi's head jerked towards him in surprise, he continued, "Yea, I overheard the cops talking about it when we were waiting between phone calls. Not to mention being raped in the house and I don't think it was several times, I think it was several people, several times. Will was shot while he was holding her and she was struggling to tell Bob, shit …Nathan, that it should be her that died. Then to top it all off, she watched a man's head blow apart after he stabbed her. I have no clue how to help her and I'm terrified that she won't be able to deal with all this and that she'll run from us."

Derek laid his head back on the seat, frustrated and exhausted. By this time they had made it back to the hospital and after Rossi parked the car he turned to Derek.

"We all have issues and fallout to deal with from this, some way more than others. But we will handle this like every other crisis we have had…like a family. Penelope, Aaron, Will, J.J. and the boys will all get through this because we won't let them falter. Whatever they choose to do, we will be there and support them. If Aaron and J.J. decided to quit they wouldn't disappear, they would still be a part of our family. We won't let Penelope run, and you're right, she will probably try to hide from this. We just won't let her. It's not going to just be hard on them, Derek. It's going to be hard on all of us. We just have to take it one day at a time."

Derek nodded, "Thanks man, I'm probably going to need you to put my head back on straight for me a few more times."

"Anytime, Derek, Anytime." Rossi turned the car off and they headed back into the hospital. "Dammit, I just realized I drove on autopilot back to the hospital. I totally forgot to drop you at your car."

Derek laughed, "I didn't even think about it either. It's cool, I probably won't leave again for awhile and only because someone forces me to. I can sort transportation out later."

"Just don't wait so long to shower next time, ok?" Rossi said with a smile. "When people position themselves to where they aren't down wind, it's probably been too long."

Derek had a feeling he was never going to live that down; it was probably karma for all the times he had hassled Reid. Accepting his fate with a smile, Derek and Rossi made their way to the ICU waiting room. When they got close, Derek stopped and asked Rossi to send Hotch out for a moment.

When Hotch walked out, Derek said, "Hotch, man, I am sorry," but paused when Hotch raised his hand.

"Derek, there is nothing to apologize for. You didn't do anything wrong. It was a lot to take in and you handled yourself the best way possible. Do not apologize to me, if anything I should be apologizing to you. I was the one that had previous contact with the Unsub and I didn't put it together. We were looking in the wrong direction. I let everyone down, not the other way."

"I'm going to use some of your own words when I say, in no way whatsoever did you let us down. You only spent 15 minutes with him, more than a year ago. Hotch, it wasn't your fault."

Hotch grinned at him and said, "She told you I said that, huh?"

"Hotch, she tells me everything and I know it meant a great deal to her that you said that."

"Well then, I will keep telling her how much she means to us. I know you are worried about her, but we will get through this. I'm not going anywhere."

They were interrupted by a doctor calling Penelope's name. Derek and Hotch gathered around with the others to hear what the doctor had to say. "We have removed Penelope from the ventilator and she is breathing remarkably well, all things considered. She has been moved to a private room, a nurse will take you to her as soon as we are done here. However, before you go in, there are some warnings I need to give you. Penelope is physically and emotionally fragile right now. She is also heavily medicated on pain killers which dull the receptors that usually tell you when you are putting too much strain on your body. Try not to agitate her and don't talk about what happened, at least not yet; she won't know she is pushing herself too hard until she's done damage. Her body is not physically strong enough to handle an emotional breakdown at this point. She actually requested me, to tell you to be normal, which I was going to do anyway. Talk about your day, your family. Tell jokes, just keep the conversation light. If she gets too worked up we will have to sedate her. Her body needs time to recover."

When he received nods and affirmations from the people in front of him, he motioned a nurse over. "Jamie is going to take you to Penelope now. Don't be alarmed if she falls asleep in the middle of a sentence; like I said, she is heavily medicated. The team, minus J.J. who was in Will's room, headed to see their favorite tech analyst.


	18. Chapter 18

_**AN: I am sincerely sorry for the long wait. I blame Matthew Gray Gubler. If I ever get a response to the email I sent him, I will fill you guys in on the rest. **_

Garcia watched as Derek entered followed by everyone…but J.J. She closed her eyes for a moment; sure she had lost her friend when her husband took a bullet that should have killed Penelope. When she opened her eyes again everyone had positioned themselves around her bed. Derek and Reid were on her right side, Emily and Hotch on her left with Rossi at the foot of the bed.

"Hey," she whispered to them.

"Hey, Baby Girl," Derek said to her and everyone else just smiled at them.

There was a moment of awkward silence and then Reid said, his face completely serious, "Hey Garcia? Time Life called and they're interested in making a new kind of compilation…What song did you hear this time?"

Derek and Penelope both laughed, but Pen stopped short at the pain it sent through her midsection. "Boy Genius, I cannot believe you just said that. I think that is the most successful attempt you have ever had with a joke." Garcia told him, her words slurred and soft.

At the other's looks of confusion, Derek explained, "When Garcia was shot, she told us she heard David Bowie's song Heroes playing while she was in the ambulance."

Hotch and Rossi laughed and Emily gasped out, "Reid" while trying not to laugh.

"It's ok Em, you can laugh, it is funny." Pen told her.

"I know," she replied. "I just can't believe that REID is the one that said it."

"What? I can't learn from others and pick up new things?" Reid asked innocently.

"Should I change lanes?" Pen asked softly.

"Baby Girl, you're in a hospital bed," Derek told her as he patted her hand.

"I know, but should I change lanes?" Pen asked again, her eyes glossy with painkillers.

The others laughed quietly while Derek told her, "No sweetness, you're fine where you are."

"Ok, good." Penelope's eyes drifted shut and she fell asleep.

"I'm going to go tell J.J. what's going on, she will want to come see her." Rossi murmured and left the room.

Derek grabbed a chair and pulled it near the bed where he could sit and hold Pen's hand. Emily pulled up a chair on the other side and sat down too. Hotch and Reid sat on the couch that converted into a bed for overnight stays. They talked amongst themselves, keeping their voices low to not wake Penelope up.

The next time Penelope opened her eyes it was dark outside. The lights in her room were dim but she could still make out the forms of her friends spread around the room. They were all staring at her and it made her feel cornered and on display.

Trying to break the tension, she looked at Reid and said, "What would it be called?"

"What would what be called?" He asked her, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"The cd…what would it be called?"

Derek was the first to catch on and laughed out loud. "The Time Life compilation genius, what would it be called? Greatest Hits of the Flatliners?"

Penelope snorted, trying not to laugh and rasped out, "Melodies of the Nearly Deceased?"

Emily jumped in with, "Turn around…we're not ready for you?"

At this point, they were all smiling, even Hotch. Reid's response made the smiles turn into full blown laughter, "Shoved from the Stairway to Heaven".

Pen couldn't help but laugh, and instantly regretted it. Pain sliced through her left side and her chest felt like it was on fire. When she started gasping and her heart monitor went crazy the laughter died and everyone jumped up to help her.

The nurse came bustling in and shooed everyone, with the exception of Derek, away from the bed. She quickly grabbed an oxygen mask and slipped it over Penelope's face. "Just try to breathe in as slowly and deeply as you can," she said calmly. "It's very difficult to get your breath back when ribs are as busted as yours are, but just keep slowing your breaths down and you will be fine."

She continued to talk to Pen softly as her breathing evened out. The loss of air and the subsequent battle to get it back had left her exhausted. She laid her head on the pillow and was asleep in moments. When the nurse was satisfied with Penelope's breathing she turned the oxygen down to a lower flow and turned to the visitors.

There was a fire in her eyes when she addressed them, "Whatever happened to cause this should not happen again. The doctor explicitly told you not to stress her out. She cannot handle another episode like this. We can and will ban visitors if you cannot do what is best for her health."

Before Derek could respond and possibly get them all kicked out, Hotch stepped in. "I know you have Penelope's best interests in mind, but you are out of line. We did exactly what the doctor told us to do. We were joking and she started laughing, that's what caused this. Next time, please ask before you start accusing. There isn't a person in this room that wouldn't give their right arm to keep Penelope from being in pain and it is insulting for you to accuse us of deliberately putting our friend in more misery."

The nurse took a step back and said, "I am truly sorry. I'm used to families not listening and I jumped to conclusions."

"It's ok," Rossi soothed. "It's good to know that someone is watching over our girl as close as you are. What I would like to know is, if we are supposed to be normal, how can we do that, without making her laugh. The only times we are all together and serious are when we are on a case. Even then, when you throw Penelope in the mix, we laugh."

"While this may not be a popular suggestion, it may help if there are fewer people in the room," the nurse said. "One or two people can be watching TV or reading a book and when she wakes up there wouldn't be the amount of focusing on her that there is with five of you. Also, if she wants to talk she can, but if she doesn't, it can stay a comfortable silence."

They saw the wisdom in what she said and as she left the room, Hotch was the first to say goodbye. He wanted to get home to Jack but promised he would be back in the morning. The other four stood debating who was going to leave and who was staying. They all knew Derek wasn't going to leave and he was adamant that the rest go home and sleep in their own beds.

Emily said, "Derek, I will make you a deal. If you will go to the cafeteria and actually eat dinner, we will all go home. You haven't eaten since breakfast and you didn't even eat much of that. You know it would piss P.G. off if you passed out because you didn't eat."

"If you're buying, I'm eating Prentiss," Derek joked with a smile.

"You drive a hard bargain, Morgan" Emily replied with her own grin.

Derek got assurances from Reid and Rossi that they wouldn't leave until he got back and he and Emily headed towards food.

The two men hadn't been sitting there for long when Penelope woke up. She blinked a couple of times and then reached up to pull the mask off her face. "Ok, as much as I hate to say it, there will be a ban on laughter for me until my ribs decide to quit being mean."

Rossi smiled at her and said, "It will happen before you know it, Kitten. Are you sill in pain?"

"No, just tired."

"Then go ahead and close your eyes and get the rest you need. You won't be alone." Rossi told her.

They thought she had fallen asleep, but she started talking to them, without opening her eyes. "How is my girl doing? I know she must hate me right now and that's ok. I just need to know that she's ok. Well, as ok as she can be."

Rossi ad Reid exchanged a look. Both were slightly stunned that they had all forgotten to tell her and a little wary of what her reaction would be when she did find out. Rossi pulled out his phone and sent a quick message out.

He turned to Penelope and said, "Bella, I have to tell you something, but it is very important that you keep your breathing as even as possible."

"Rossi, you're scaring me. Please tell me that J.J. is ok, tell me that Henry and the new baby are fine too."

'New Baby?' Reid mouthed to Rossi who shrugged. "Garcia, is J.J. pregnant?" Reid asked.

Pen blushed and said, "Oops, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, but it slipped out. Please just tell me what's wrong?"

Rossi's phone beeped and he said to Garcia, "Nothing is wrong, Kitten. In fact, everything is better than expected. Honey, Will didn't die." He turned his phone around so Penelope could see the picture on it. He had asked J.J. to send a pic of her and Will because he knew Pen would need visual confirmation. "They are just a few rooms down from us. J.J.'s been switching back and forth all day. You just haven't been awake long enough to see her."

"But…but…how?" Pen stammered.

"The bullet didn't hit anything vital and paramedics were able to get him to the hospital before he lost too much blood. Bella, he's going to be just fine."


	19. Chapter 19

_**AN: Ok I said there was a poll on my profile for what the title of this story should be changed to, but apparently I didn't activate it. It's up now, please vote and help me decide. I'm skipping ahead some, so I can get to the important stuff. Also, thanks for all the reviews. **_

_**I own nothing**_

Penelope just stared at the picture on Rossi's phone. J.J. and Henry were sitting on either side of Will. He looked pale and tired, but he was alive. "If I didn't think it would hurt, I would be crying right now. I thought he died. Wow, just wow."

She was saved from having to come up with something else to say when J.J. entered the room. She quickly crossed the room and gave Penelope a gentle, but fierce, hug. "Garcie, I am so glad you are awake. How are you feeling?"

"Guilty," Garcia said, blushing. "Jayje, I'm sorry, but Will told me that you are pregnant and I accidently just blurted it out to these two." She pointed at Rossi, who had a grin on his face, and Reid.

"Oh Pen, it's ok. I knew it wouldn't stay a secret for long." J.J. assured her.

"What wouldn't stay a secret?" Derek asked as he and Emily walked back in the room. "Hey Baby Girl," He whispered as he tenderly kissed her forehead and resumed his place holding her hand.

"You mean there is someone that doesn't know?" J.J. asked, laughing, while looking at Emily.

"Hey, why are you looking at me? I only told Hotch because he needed to know."

Sheepishly Pen held up her right hand, still entwined with Derek's. "I spilled the beans just now to Reid and Rossi."

"Wait, so everyone knows this secret, but me?" Derek asked pretending to be hurt.

"Yep son, it looks that way and this is my cue to head home." He stood up, patted Penelope's leg and said to Reid, "Come on kid, I'll give you a ride home."

"Thanks," Reid replied as he stood up as well, gave Pen an awkward hug and turned to Derek, "Looks like for once I'm not the last to know something." He then followed Rossi out of the room, smirking.

Laughing at Reid's glee, both J.J. and Emily said their goodbye's and left as well.

"That's messed up! No one is going to tell me the secret?" Derek asked, pouting.

"Hot stuff, J.J. is pregnant." Pen told him with a small giggle.

Derek's smile lit up the room. "I've missed hearing you call me that, sweetness. There is so much I need to tell you."

Before he could pour his hear out Pen stopped him. "D, you know I love you and that hasn't changed. But any confessions you want to make are going to have to wait, please. I don't want what happened to be the cause for you to tell me anything. If you still feel whatever it is you're feeling in a couple of months, tell me then when it isn't contaminated by fear, relief or pity. Right now I just need, and want, my best friend."

Derek studied her for a moment. He knew she was trying to hold it together and he didn't want a repeat of the episode from earlier. Seeing her struggle to breathe hurt him, so to avoid that he said, "All right Mama, I can wait. As long as you promise that you won't make any major life decisions without having our discussion first."

Penelope graced him with a smile and said, "I think I can handle that handsome."

Derek leaned up and kissed her on her forehead again. "Get some sleep, Baby Girl. I can see you fighting it. I'm not going anywhere." He stroked her hand as her eyes drifted shut and her breathing became slow and deep. Derek was satisfied with what Garcia had said and would wait forever for her if that's what she needed.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

It had been a week since Penelope had been admitted and she was about to be released to go home. It had been decided that she would stay with Derek until she had full mobility back, although Derek intended it to be permanent. His house had a guestroom and a lack of stairs that appealed to her. Plus, she didn't want to be alone and wasn't going to ask Derek to sleep on her couch, even though she knew he would if she asked.

Penelope had spoken briefly with a psychiatrist while still in the hospital, and they had set up a twice weekly time for Pen to come in. The psychiatrist had agreed with her physician that they should hold off on really discussing anything until her body could handle it. They didn't realize how badly their plan would backfire.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Two weeks after Penelope had been released, they had settled into a comfortable routine. Strauss had been unusually nice and told Derek that he could take as much time as he needed and work from home if the team needed him.

Derek said it was because she was grateful to him for standing up to her about her drinking.

Pen said it was because the Ice Queen was looking for a hot chocolate God to melt her. Derek almost choked on the coffee he was drinking and then quickly changed the subject before Penelope could gross him out even more.

Every time he would attempt to talk about those horrible two days Pen would shut down. The more he pressed, the more withdrawn she would become. Any other time she would be fine and things were almost normal.

Two weeks after that Derek called Hotch at the end of his rope. "Hotch, man, I'm worried about Penelope." He had told Pen he was taking Clooney for a walk and had gone to the park at the end of his street to call his boss for advice.

"What's wrong, Morgan?" Hotch said, worry evident in his tone.

"I can't get Pen to talk to me about anything that happened, which is not normal. She usually tells me everything. I'm worried that she's not really dealing with this."

"Derek," Hotch said carefully. "She may not ever tell you what happened. Is she going to the psychiatrist?"

"Yea, I know she's talking to her. Last week it seemed like she had turned a corner. She came out of the Doc's office and it was obvious she had been crying, hard. The doc followed her out and she had been crying too. But nothing had changed, Pen doesn't ever cry at home. She absolutely refuses to let me in." Derek ran a hand over his head in frustration.

Hotch's voice came through his phone, calm and soothing, "As long as she is talking to someone, that's a good thing. I know that you want to support her and that talking about it helps to lessen its hold. But Derek, Penelope may never feel comfortable enough to talk to anyone she knows about what happened. That's not a reflection on any of us; it just speaks to the level of trauma. She knows that between Will and Jack we know everything that happened except for when she was alone; and even then we know what happened there. When she is ready to talk to you about it, she will. Until then you can't push her and you have to relax. She may be sensing your anxiety and that could be holding her back."

"I know you're right Hotch," Derek said. "But I just know that something's not right. All of my instincts say that this is wrong. She's acting normal, but not too normal. She's not her bouncy self, which would be suspicious if she were, but it's almost staged when she has her ups and downs. I don't know why Hotch, but I feel like everything I've seen in the past month has just been an act. As her boss, you can talk to her doctor to make sure she is fit for duty. Would you please do that?"

Hotch signed, he was concerned about what Derek had said, but knew that his teammate and friend was too close to the situation to be unbiased. "Derek, I can't do that until it's time for her to come back to work, and she's still got a month at least before she's physically cleared. How about you have us all over for a team dinner tonight? I'll let the other know and we can be on the lookout for any signs that she's not managing."

Hotch heard the frustrated sound that Derek made and continued, "Morgan, you know I trust your judgment but you also know that you are way too involved to be thinking clearheaded. Just because Penelope is not behaving the way you think she should be does not mean that she isn't coping."

Derek told him to have everyone there at seven and quickly ended the call. He knew that Hotch could be right; his emotions could be too close to the surface on this one. He hoped that he was wrong and that his friends would be able to put his anxieties to rest. He just couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something.

The team dinner went off without a hitch. None of the guests noticed anything odd or suspicious for someone who had experienced such a ordeal a month ago. Derek was left feeling even more unsettled. On one hand he knew what his gut was telling him, but on the other, there was no way Penelope could fool six of the best profilers who were all on alert. He figured that the others were right and he was just reacting from his own emotions to the situation.

Three weeks later he was regretting his decision to leave it alone.


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: Rollercoaster is climbing to a crescendo again…very angsty couple of chapters ahead. **

**I own nothing.**

Derek's phone rang at 12:47 Wednesday afternoon, seven weeks after the abduction. Hotch wanted him to come in for a meeting. Since he was due to start back at work next week he had been expecting the call. Penelope urged him to go and not worry about her; they had barely been apart for more than ten minutes the past month and a half. She hadn't been able to breathe without Derek hearing it and she was looking forward to having a moment of solitude. She assured him she was fine and would be fine until he got back home. Derek kissed her cheek and was out the door.

Five minutes after Derek left, Penelope was sitting on the couch, drowning in the silence. Even though it was annoying to have her chocolate God looking over her shoulder 24/7, it was quiet. Now that there was absolutely no noise, Pen found her head full of thoughts that she didn't want to be thinking. She decided to run to the grocery store because the pantry was a little bare. She grabbed her purse and was out the door, not even stopping to leave a note in case Derek got home ahead of her.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

Derek got to the office and after saying hello to the others, made his way to Hotch's office. Entering the room, he was surprised to see Penelope's therapist, Dr. Carly Levin, sitting in one of the chairs. Derek took the other, worry etched on his face. "Hotch, what's going on?"

"I asked for this meeting," Dr. Levin told him. "I needed to discuss this with her boss but I'm including you because you are probably the best equipped to deal with it. However, I am going to pretend you are not here because I am breaking the law by sharing her personal information with you. But, this is what's best for my patient and I will stand by that if I need to."

"Dr. Levin, please tell us what is so bad you are willing to risk losing your license," Hotch said. "Preferably before Agent Morgan bursts a blood vessel." His small joke accomplished its goal of making Derek calm down for a moment.

"Please, call me Carly, I feel like I know you two, and the others on the team, as well as I know my own friends. All Penelope has done for the last two months is talk about you guys. I heard about Hotch's wife and Derek almost blowing up, Reid being kidnapped, Emily dying and many other intimate facts about all your lives. What I know nothing about is what happened for the two days Penelope was held and tortured."

Both men looked at her, astonished. Hotch was the first to regain his voice, "Are you saying that Penelope has not once talked to you about what happened?"

When Carly shook her head, indicating that she hadn't been told anything, Derek asked incredulously, "What about the time she came out of your office and you had both been crying?"

"Let me start at the beginning," Carly said. "For the first few visits it was just general chatting and getting to know each other. She still wasn't physically strong enough to handle a meltdown. The 1st visit of the third week I started trying to get her to talk about it, but she was completely resistant. The 2nd visit that week, she spent almost an hour talking about the case in New York when Hotch's SUV exploded and Derek drove an ambulance with a bomb in it. The last five minutes of the session she finally stopped and realized I hadn't been paying attention and was doing paperwork. She asked me why I wasn't listening. I told her I would, when she stopped denying what happened and started talking about it. She went completely still and then got very angry. She told me that she was doing fine and she was talking it out with Derek."

Derek spluttered and started to speak but Carly held up her hand, "I know she wasn't. She then told me that I couldn't say anything until it was time for her to go back to work and by then I would see that she was perfectly fine. Penelope got up and went into my little bathroom. She was in there for about 30 seconds. I could hear her coughing and when she came out her face was puffy and red like she had been crying for the last hour. I went into the bathroom and it was pepper spray, she had sprayed so much it was still lingering in the air, and that's why it looked I had been crying too. When I started to confront her about it, she made some vague threats about my cyber life. She planned it all."

Derek jumped in, "You make her sound like an Unsub we're after, lying and trying to cover her tracks."

Dr. Levin tried to calm Derek down, "I don't mean it in that way at all. Penelope's body couldn't handle it in the beginning and I still agree with that decision. However, after weeks of not talking about it, Penelope thought she could just skip over it and be ok. She had managed to function without thinking about it so far and figured she could continue to do so long term. I threatened that and she needed to protect the bubble she had created for herself. She's not going to be able to keep it up much longer. Her bubble is about to burst and it is going to be, as Penelope says 'uberly messy'. She's becoming more agitated and can't concentrate on keeping up the façade."

"She has been quieter lately," Derek said. "She also startles easier. The other day Clooney barked and she almost came off the couch."

"Have you left her alone much lately?" Carly asked.

"No, she hasn't been alone for more that 15-20 minutes at a time in the past two months," Derek replied.

"That's part of why she has been able to hang on for so long, she's had distractions. I wouldn't be surprised if when you got home she was crumpled on the floor, crying."

At the doctor's words, Derek jumped up out of his chair, "I knew I shouldn't have left her alone."

Carly stood up as well, "Derek, don't run to her now, she needs to break. Time alone, forcing her to listen to what her head is telling her is what she needs. At this point, even when she does hit the wall, we will probably have to push her over it."

Derek's phone rang, breaking the tense silence that had followed Carly's words. "Morgan…What?..._She doesn't even eat chili_...Ok, just take her to my house…Thanks Will, we'll be there in less than 20.

Derek shut his phone and looked at Hotch and Carly. "It's happening. Pen apparently decided to go to the grocery store and lost it when she couldn't find chili without beans. She started yelling and destroying the display. One employee approached her while another called the cops."

Hotch shook his head, he knew what was coming next, they had seen it before.

Derek nodded at him and then continued, "When the employee touched her to get her attention, she punched him, knocking him out. A customer tried to grab her and she started hitting him. Luckily for us, Will and his partner happened to be the closest unit and got there before any real damage was done. Will explained enough of the situation to keep them from filing charges, but he had to put her in the back of his car because he couldn't get her to calm down. He's taking her to my house; can I run to her now?" Derek asked, almost mocking the doctor.

"Don't be an ass. You need to be as calm as you can be before you walk into that house." Carly told him. "I'm coming with you. I will stay out of the way unless I am needed but this is going to get nasty and you will probably need me."

Derek nodded and Hotch said, "I'll drive…No Derek, you are in no condition to do so and I can get us there faster than Carly can."

"Fine, let's go," Derek said and took off out of Hotch's office.

Hotch and Carly followed, and Carly said, "Will he be able to pull it together? Because that man cannot be anywhere near Penelope like that."

"He will be fine when he is with Penelope. It's instinctual for him to be exactly what she needs at any given moment." Hotch told her. As they passed Emily's desk he told her they had an emergency and he would call and fill them in later. They had to run to get on the elevator because Derek wasn't going to hold it for them.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**

When they pulled up to Derek's house he was out of the car and running before the transmission was in park. He could hear Pen screaming and, if it was possible, he moved even faster. He flung his door open and could hear glass shattering. He bolted through the living room where Will was and heard him say, "Watch yourself, she's been throwing things for the past few minutes." Derek kept going, straight into his kitchen, where he immediately had to duck to miss a glass being thrown at the door. The glass sailed into the living room, breaking on the wood floor.

Even in the same room Derek couldn't understand what Pen was screaming. It was more than noises but not quite coherent words. The only words Derek could make out were cuss words. He weaved his way around the worst of the broken mess on his floor. She was cleaning out his cabinets, throwing whatever her hands landed on. She wasn't even aware Derek was in the room. He didn't want to startle her but he needed to get her attention and get her to stop screaming.

"Baby Girl…**Baby** **Girl**!..._**PENELOPE!" **_The third time, when he yelled louder than her, finally snapped her head around. As if a spell had broken, Penelope looked around and then fell to her knees. "Oh Derek, I am so sorry." She put her head in her hands and started rocking herself back and forth.

Derek dropped down beside her, "Sweetness, it is ok. Smashing things is one of my favorite stress relievers. Nothing is broken that can't be replaced easily. Come on Mama, let's get you out of this glass, you don't even have any shoes on." Derek slid his arms behind her back and helped her to stand. He then dropped one of his arms behind her knees and scooped her up into his arms.

He carried her out of the kitchen, stopping in the living room to kick his boots off so he wouldn't track glass though the house. Penelope had buried her face into his chest and was pressing into him like it could stop the flow of tears Derek knew were fixing to come. He felt her start to shake as they passed through the living room. Derek saw that Will was gone and Hotch was cleaning up the glass that had broken out there. They exchanged a look, Derek's of agony and Hotch's of sympathy and support as Derek continued on to his bedroom.


	21. Chapter 21

Derek carried Penelope into his bedroom and gently laid her onto the bed. He sat down beside her and placed his hand on top of her hip. Close enough so she felt his presence, but not so close he was crowding her. His touch broke the dam and the tears that Penelope had been struggling to hold back came pouring out. He sat there and murmured softly to her. He whispered words of comfort and lightly rubbed her hip until her tears started to subside.

When the worst was over, Derek said, "Baby Girl, you have nothing to be sorry for. You have nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of. I, umm, I read the reports so I know the bones of what happened." His free hand rubbed the back of his neck. He knew he was making her uncomfortable, but it had to be done. Her doctor had told him to push her to get it all out. Carly had said in the car it was going to be a long night. Derek was glad that she had come with them, because his words had just pushed them into round two.

"You read the file? Derek, you read my f***ing file?" Before he could say anything or move out of the way, Penelope was sitting and had punched him square in the nose. As his eyes watered, he jumped off the bed. He thought she was just angry that he knew everything that happened to her, but it was so much worse.

Hearing her yelling and Derek's shout of pain, Hotch and Dr. Levin had come into the bedroom. Penelope completely ignored them and advanced on Derek.

"So since you read my file you know they GANG RAPED me." She spat the words at him and when he flinched, she gave a disgusted snort. "Just because you read the clinical terms does not mean you will ever be prepared to hear the actuality. I always though Charlotte on Private Practice was a bitch, but now I know she was right. A real rape is nothing like they show on screen. I didn't zone out and take myself somewhere less painful, I couldn't. They wouldn't let me. If I wasn't paying attention and reacting, they would bite me or burn me with a cigarette. It was hot and sweaty, and so not in a good way. It smelled horrible and I still feel dirty from it."

Penelope's voice got louder as she continued and Derek's heart broke with her next words. "I have showered three times a day since I was able to on my own and I still don't feel clean. I feel hands on me when I'm all by myself. And this is why I didn't say anything for two f***ing months. Because I never wanted you to be looking at me the way you are right now. I don't want my family to hear the things that happened to me because, even though I know that you all love me and support me, I am disgusted by it, so how can you not be?"

She was close enough for to Derek to reach out and touch, but he didn't dare. Her chest was heaving with her emotions and loss of breath after her rant. "I can't stand that I want to touch you and I want for you to be able to touch me. I would kill for a hug from my Chocolate God, but as soon as skin touches mine I'm back in that room. With one guy hurting me while the rest cheered him on. Or with one of the goons telling me if I didn't act like he was the best I'd ever had that he would go get Jack and force him on me."

She was so focused on Derek that she did hear the gasp from Hotch, who had turned pale and his fists were clenched. Penelope continued, "Before I could even blink, Bob was putting a bullet between his eyes. He fell on top of me and Bob was yelling at the rest that the kids were untouchables. He left the guy on top of me while he gave his lecture. When they finally shoved the guy off, it was only so the next could take his turn. Reading about it doesn't give you those details. It doesn't tell you how I strained to hit them. I wanted so bad to knock their asses off of me, but I couldn't."

Penelope once again caught Derek unaware as she plowed her fist into his stomach. She started to swing wildly on him and he threw his arms up to protect his face and braced his legs. If his Baby Girl needed to beat him senseless to get rid of some of her pain he would let her put him into a coma. Then at least he wouldn't have to look upon this broken woman with no idea how to help her.

He wanted to put his arms around her but feared that would make things worse. He grunted when she connected with his nose again and stumbled backwards a step. Hotch and Carly stepped forward and grabbed Penelope's arms to keep her from doing any more harm. As soon as their hands closed around her, Penelope began to struggle.

"Penelope, it's all right. It's just Doctor Levin and Hotch. It's ok, just relax, we're not going to hurt you, you're safe." Carly's soothing words were having no effect. Penelope just got more agitated and was trying to get free. She couldn't see them anymore. She was trapped in a flashback. Her eyes were wide open but glossy and unfocused. Dr. Levin motioned for Derek to take her place. When Derek's voice was not enough to calm her down, Carly retrieved her bag from the living room.

Re-entering the bedroom she told Hotch and Derek, "Put her over on the bed." Hearing those words triggered a frantic response from Penelope. She looked straight at Carly without seeing her. She was jerking her body so hard Hotch and Derek had both of their arms around her. Carly, grateful she was tiny, slid into the tangle of bodies and was somehow able to inject the sedative in Pen's arm. Derek and Hotch continued to hold her as her struggles weakened until she was finally spent.

As her knees started to buckle, Derek swept his arms under her legs and gently placed her back on the bed. "No, please don't," she whimpered softly as her back touched the mattress. "Baby Girl, it's ok. It's just your Hot Stuff. You're safe, sweetness. It's ok if you want to close your eyes and get some sleep now. I will still be here when you wake up."

"Mmkay Derek, goodnight," Penelope slurred as her eyes drifted close. Derek waited until her breathing evened out and then slowly got off the bed and followed Hotch and Carly into the living room. "What did you give her?" Hotch asked.

"Just a mild sedative," Carly replied. "It probably won't keep her out for more than two hours. The rest will do her good because she's going to be dealing with rollercoaster emotions, like we just saw, for a while. She's right, this is so much worse than anything we could have read in the medical report. I need to know that you two can handle it. Derek, you cannot be a martyr like that. Hitting you will not make her feel better. Guilt will just be one more of the many emotions she will be feeling when she wakes up."

Derek nodded at her. "I'm going to step outside for a minute. She just tossed a lot at me and I can't fix any of it." He turned and walked to the sliding glass door to the backyard. He went through the door but left it open in case Penelope called out for him.

Carly turned to Hotch, "How are you? It can't be easy for you to hear that from your friend. And it definitely wasn't easy to hear how close your son could have been to it."

Hotch closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know. I know how Derek feels; he wants to hurt someone, preferably one of those men. I get that because I am right there with him. But there is nothing we can do to them because they are all dead. I feel useless and I want to take Penelope's pain away because she deserves to be happy and whole again. But I know that she has to go through this grieving process to get back to happy. She's just made it so much worse by bottling it and lying to everyone. So I'm a little mad at her for that and at myself for not seeing it. But then I can't be mad at her because I never wanted to talk about what Foyet did to me. It wasn't until I had snapped at everyone that I sought help from you. So I guess I feel confused right now."

Hotch sunk down on the couch and put his head in his hands. "Can I please just have a moment?"

"Sure," Carly replied. "I'm going to step outside and check on Derek."

She left and Hotch was alone with his thoughts.


	22. Chapter 22

_**AN: No excuses for lengthy time between updates…just apologies. I hope this story hasn't been forgotten about since it has been a super long time since the last chapter. I have a ton of ideas that are floating around, but I have to complete this first. I hope you enjoy.**_

_**I own nothing but the plot**_

Carly stepped out the patio door and scanned the yard for Derek. She found him sitting on the edge of the deck with Clooney by his side. His shoulders were slumped and his head was down…even the dog looked depressed with his matching position. She approached the forlorn pair and sat down beside Derek. She kept her eyes forward as he wiped the tears off his face. She remained silent, offering him comfort with her presence.

"She's right. There is no way reading a report could ever prepare you for that." Derek said softly, "How will she ever be able to put this behind her?"

"She may not," Carly answered. "The only way will be to get it all out. Sitting inside her, it is eating away at her. She may not want to tell us because it is so painful but she has to face it and deal with it."

"How can I show her that while I am disgusted by what happened, I think no less of her, find her dirty or less appealing in any way? She is always so good at knowing exactly what to say to make me feel better. What are the magic words to do the same for her?"

"Derek, you know better than that. There _are_ no magic words. Only time and support can make this better. When she wakes up we will probably hear more of what happened. Don't be afraid of showing your emotions. What happened to her _was_ horrible and it _should_ upset you. The only reason you should hide your emotions is if you are disgusted by her and are waiting for the right time to leave. Since I know that is not what you are doing, let her see your pain. Yes, she was the one that actually went through the traumatic experience, but _everyone_ is struggling in the fallout. You have to work through this and come to terms with it, just as much as she does. I wouldn't recommend saying that to her right now, she won't receive it well, but you should keep it in mind."

"How will showing how upset I am help Penelope?" Derek felt like he was asking a stupid question. He was a trained profiler, he had extensive knowledge of psychology, but he couldn't see the forest for the trees when it came to Penelope.

"Because she won't be doing this alone. I know she isn't, but her knowing that you are struggling too will ease her guilt and embarrassment over having issues. She will know that she isn't by herself in her mental and emotional brawl."

They continued talking, not knowing that in the bedroom, Penelope was starting to wake up.

**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM CM**

Hotch was trying to get a grip on his raging emotions when he heard the first whimper. He raised his head from where it had been cradled in his hands and listened to see if he was just hearing things. He had sat there for a couple of minutes, contemplating the pain his friends and son had been through when he heard a small ragged cry come from the bedroom. Hotch got up off of the couch and made his way down the hall. He had just turned into the bedroom when Penelope shot off the bed, eyes wide open. Her chest was heaving and she was gasping for air. Hotch stayed where he was, he didn't want to frighten her anymore than she already was. He held his hands up and said in a very soft voice, "Penelope, it's ok, you're safe. Are you alright? I know that's a stupid question, but…" He paused, sighed, and then said, "The job requires me to know what to say at all times but now, when I need that ability the most, it has failed me. The only words that I find have any importance right now are, 'I'm here for you'. No matter what you need, what you want, I am here for you. "

Pen's eyes were slightly less wide and she had caught her breath, but she was still trying to control the panic that was coursing through her body. The look she was giving Hotch was so full of pain and fear that his heart was breaking for her. Going on nothing but instinct, Hotch held his hands out to Penelope. Her lip quivered, her face crumbled and as she stepped towards Hotch, fat tears started rolling down her cheeks. He wrapped his arms around her and held on tight as she started to shake with her sobs.

Penelope had iron grips on the sides of Hotch's blazer and he had a hard time understanding her when she said, through her tears, "This hurts too much Boss man. Please make it stop."

"Oh Penelope, I wish I could. I would give almost anything to take your pain away. But, the only way to get past it is to talk it out." He lightly stroked her shoulder as she tried to speak again.

"Hotch, there is absolutely nothing from those two days that I want to remember. Isn't there some sort of profiler magic to block the memories so I never have to relive them?"

"Even if there was, you wouldn't find anyone willing to do it to you." Hotch gently pulled away from her and led her to a chair in the corner of the room. He sat her in the chair and kneeled in front of her. "Reliving the worst moments of their life is the last thing anyone wants to do."

Knowing it was coming; Penelope sniffled and said, "But…"

"It is the ONLY way you will ever be able to put it to rest and really move on with your life. It will hurt and there will be many more tears shed, on your part and ours."

Pen's head snapped up on the word 'ours'. "What do you guys have to cry about?" she said angrily, ready to divert the topic any way she had to. "I can understand J.J. and, to an extent, you crying over this, but the others weren't there and have utterly no reason for tears."

Hotch reached out and grabbed her flailing hands and clasped them in between his. "Penelope, we are a family. What hurts one of us, hurts all of us. I am in no way saying that any of us know exactly how you feel or what you went through, but we see you in pain and that hurts us. Tell me something, when you found out about what happened to Derek when he was a boy, did it make you want to cry?"

"Want to? I was bawling like…like a baby." She hung her head, chagrined and then said, "Oh Hotch, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. And Derek…Oh my God, Hotch, I hit him so hard and and and…why did he let me hit him…it's not his fault, I should have never hit him." She was talking so fast and getting more agitated as she went on.

Hotch interrupted quickly, "Whoa, whoa, slow down. It's ok. He's not mad at you, no one is. Tempers are going to flair. Derek thought it would help if you got some of your frustration and anger out and he was willing to be a poor substitute for a punching bag. He's not really thinking straight right now either."

"Where is Derek?" Penelope asked. "I need to apologize, not only for hitting him, but for destroying his kitchen as well."

"I'm right here, Baby Girl" Derek said as he walked into the room, Carly right behind him. "And there is no need to say sorry…for anything." He sat down in the chair next to Penelope and turned to look at her.

"Yes there is D," Pen insisted. "I completely lost my shit. I threw cans of chili and punched complete strangers. Will had to drag me out of the store and stuff me in the back of his car. Then I get back here, demolish your kitchen, say horrible things to you guys and _then_ beat on Derek like I'm Sugar Daddy."

Hotch chortled and said, "Do you mean Sugar Ray?"

"Whatever," Penelope replied. "That's not the point. I behaved like a monster to the people I love the most. Is this how I should expect the rest of this 'healing' experience to go?" Pen used air quotations around healing and looked directly at Carly.

Carly hesitated and then said, 'It is very likely that you will experience more outbursts like the one earlier before you can put this behind you."

"That's all I needed to make up my mind." Penelope said as she rose from her chair, skirted around Hotch and left the room. Puzzled, the others got up and followed. They found her in the bedroom she had been staying in, pulling her suitcases and clothes from the closet.

Derek broke the silence first, "Baby Girl, what are you doing? Stop…Penelope! Stop and talk to us. Why are you packing, you aren't going anywhere."

Pen sucked in a deep breath, looked straight into quizzical eyes and said, "I can't do this here. I can't put people I love through that. Not because I don't think you can handle it, but because I can't. I can't be worried every minute about how I may be making you guys feel. You can tell me all you want that it's alright that I hit you Derek; and Hotch can tell me that the way I threw the info out about Jack doesn't bother him. But it bothers me and I'm not ok with it. I need to put myself back together somewhere far away from here."


	23. Chapter 23

_**Hope everyone had a great holiday season! Back to writing before school starts again! Recovery Ranch is a real place in Tennessee. I have no idea how long the drive time would be so I guessed...sorry if I'm totally off. **_

_**I own nothing but the plotline**_

Hotch, Carly and Derek all exchanged a look before turning back to watch Penelope frantically stuff her suitcase with clothes.

"Penelope," Carly started carefully. "Running away won't solve anything. You won't be able to run far enough, or fast enough, to escape these demons. You need to work this out with the people that are here to support you."

"You misunderstood me," Penelope told her. "I'm not running _from_ my demons, I'm running to them. For once in my life I need to be selfish. I need to focus on my feelings, not everyone else's. I won't be able to turn that off when I'm with you guys. I wanna go somewhere that can help me, you know, like a rehab clinic for trauma victims. I know they exist."

All eyes turned to Carly, who had to search for the right words. "Yes, they do exist and I know an excellent one not too far from here. There is a place, in Tennessee, called Recovery Ranch and they have programs for people suffering from trauma, addiction and PTSD. They use a combination of therapies, including group and Equine therapy, to help people overcome what they've been through."

Derek interrupted her angrily, "Hold on a second, you're on board with this?" He asked, incredulously. "Baby Girl, we can help you through this, we are your family. Don't leave, stay with us. I don't care if you yell at me every minute of every day. I don't care if you destroy everything in my house. Hell, burn it down if it will make you feel better. Whatever it takes to help you I will do it, just don't run from us…don't run from me."

In his panicked state Derek forgot and moved towards Penelope quickly and tried to pull her into his arms to hold on to her. Unable to stop herself, Pen jerked backwards trying to escape his touch. She collided with the lamp on the bedside, knocking it to the floor. When she saw the stricken look on Derek's face she looked at Hotch and Carly and asked if she could have moment alone with him.

Penelope set the lamp back on the table and turned to Derek. "I know that you are perfectly willing to let me take my pain out on you, but I'm not ok with that. I'm not running away from you because I find you deficient in any way. I'm running to keep from hurting you anymore. It's the only way to protect myself and everyone else I love from enduring more pain then necessary. I can't concentrate on the things I need to if I'm feeling guilty for snapping at you or hitting you. I don't want to see the hurt in your eyes that I just saw when I flinch because I wasn't expecting your touch. "

She stepped closer to Derek and put her hand on his face. "I will come back to you and we _will_ have that discussion we… _I _have been putting off. I need to be whole before I can discuss our future and right now I'm a bunch of broken pieces. Please support me in this decision; I really do think it is the best option for me."

Derek sighed and said, "I will always support you, Penelope. You are my everything and if you truly think this will work better for you… then I'm 100% with you. You just have to promise me that you will come back, that you won't fall in love with the horses and leave me alone."

"That's never gonna happen Hot Stuff. You are stuck with me for the rest of our lives. I will be back before you know it, and we can move on with our lives. Now, help me please so I can finish packing. Sooner I start, sooner I'm done and can come home."

Derek nuzzled his face into Penelope's hand and looked at her with a smirk on his face. "Uh, Baby Girl? Aren't you forgetting something? You have to have somewhere to go before you can leave."

Pen paused, tilted her head, and called out, "Carly, can you come back in here?"

Within seconds Carly and Hotch appeared in the doorway. When Derek raised his eyebrow at their quickness, Carly said sheepishly, "We stayed close in case we were needed. Which, look at that, you needed me."

Penelope giggled at Carly's sarcasm and three sets of astonished eyes turned toward her.

"I've missed that giggle," Derek said softly.

"I've missed being able to giggle," Penelope replied. "Carly, that place you were talking about...How soon can I go?"

"Give me five minutes and I will tell you," Carly said, slipping out of the room. Penelope returned to packing her bag, although much more carefully now. She had Hotch retrieve her other luggage from the closet and Derek helped gather her toiletries.

Carly returned to the room and said, "Penelope, you are all set. The ranch is about a two-hour drive from here and they are expecting you tonight."

"Thank you Carly." Pen said as she zipped up her third bag. She turned to look up at Derek and Hotch. "Before you two hit the roof, hear me out. I know that either or both of you would take me out there, but I want to go on my own."

Both men opened their mouths, but before they could say anything Penelope continued. "I want to do this, I am perfectly capable of driving and it's not that long of a drive. This will give me a chance to clear my head before I'm surrounded by people. It's a beautiful fall day. I can see the leaves changing color and jam to the radio. I promise that if it turns out to be too much I will stop and call. I also promise that I will call the minute I get there."

She looked at Derek with pleading eyes. Derek knew this was something she really wanted; and even though he didn't like it, he decided to go along with it. "I want a pinky promise, Baby Girl," Derek said, with a wink. "You call as soon as you get there, if you need anything on the way there, or even if you just want to complain about the slow little-old-lady doing twenty mph, not letting you pass."

Penelope snickered as she held up her pinky for Derek. "I pinky swear to call you when I get there…and for little-old-ladies."

Hotch and Derek picked up her suitcases and carried them down to Esther. When the bags were in the trunk and Penelope had her keys in her hand, she turned to the three watching her. She smiled at their apprehensive looks and said, "It will be ok, guys...I pinky swore to call for anything and I promised to come back. Have faith in me."

Penelope slid behind the wheel and Derek stepped up to push her door closed. He leaned in through the window and said, "I always have faith in you, Penelope Garcia. It's the one thing I have no doubts about. Be safe, and remember your promises to me and I will be here waiting for your return."

Derek pressed a kiss to his hand and then slowly brought it to her cheek. He stepped back and stood with Hotch and Carly as Penelope backed out of the drive way and disappeared down the street, the radio already blaring.


End file.
